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linkedkeysau-official · 2 years

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Whumptober 2022- Linked Keys edition

Days 20/21- Stabbed/made to watch (alt prompts) and Coughing up blood/"you're safe now" (+ art)

Warnings: Just... A shitton of nasty stuff happening here.

Darknuts were a pain to deal with, all of Four’s components agreed. Heavily armored, hard-hitting, and with only one way to defeat them, of course they would be. Especially when all one had to go off of for a strategy for dealing with them was the description of them from other heroes. Now Four was alone, dealing with a magically enhanced armored monstrosity that wasn’t even from their world. And the Colors were getting all four of their asses kicked.

Covered head to toe in bright red armor with a glowing blue tint to it (this being how they knew Nihrie was boosting its power), and about the size of all four of the Colors combined– this of course not saying about the size of Four, but rather the size of four Fours. It carried a sword and shield much larger than the Four sword, and while its movements were slow, it didn’t seem to have a weak point. Vio had taken the first hit, bashed directly in the face by the Darknut’s shield. The blow seemed to have broken both his glasses and his nose, as he was now bleeding and half-blind, though trying to get up regardless.

Despite this predicament, however, his brain still worked as good as it ever did, and he had come up with a plan not long after this. He squinted around until he found a tree that would be easy to climb and had decent cover in the upper limbs. Perfect vantage point. If he could climb up and get into position without being noticed, he could try to shoot at the Darknut with his bow. Even if it didn’t do any damage, it would hopefully give his brothers time to look for a weak spot on this thing, while the foliage in the upper branches would keep Vio obscured long enough that he could shoot to keep the knight distracted until the others had found it.

“Green! I have a plan, but I need you to cover me!” Vio shouted.

“What is it?” Green asked.

“I’m gonna climb up there and distract it so you, Red, and Blue can look for a weak spot. But I need time to get into position.”

“How do you plan to distract it from up there?!” Blue asked. Vio held up his bow as if it were the obvious answer.

“You’re fucking blind, Vio, how can we be sure that you’ll actually be able to aim?”

“I am not that blind, Blue! At least not yet, anyway. Look, it’s bright red in the middle of a green forest. I can see it just fine. Now do you want my help or do you want to just charge in there like an idiot?”

“He’s got a point, Blue. We need to think outside the box.” Green butted in.

“AGHH, I’LL BOX YOU—!”

“Guys! Whatever you’re doing, hurry up! I need some help over here!” Red cried out. Blue cursed as he realized they’d all left Red to hold off the Darknut alone while they argued over Vio’s plan. Their mistake was realized too late, however. Not even two seconds after Red uttered his cry for help, the Darknut’s sword sunk deep into his body, straight through his gut.

“RED!!!” The other three cried out in unison as the sword was yanked out and Red immediately dropped to the ground, breathing heavily and clearly in an immense amount of pain as his blood began to soak into his tunic, staining it an even darker shade of the same color.

“Alright, fine. We’ll do it your way. Whatever it takes to take this thing down!” Blue told Vio.

“Blue, you go help Red. Vio, I’ll cover you. Do what you need to do.” Green said. Vio nodded as he ran to the side of the tree with the lowest branches and began climbing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nihrie had teleported himself and Shadow from the Volcano prison to a big, circular room in what Shadow assumed must have been Nihrie’s fortress. The room was dark, illuminated only by the glowing blue orb in the center. However, with Shadow’s natural night vision, he could make out several pairs of locked doors, each set a short distance from the others as they lined the walls. What they led to, Shadow wasn’t sure. But the orb was what Nihrie was here for anyway.

“Look, Shadow. This is what I needed you to see. I believe you know who those people are.” Nihrie pulled the dark hero closer. Shadow hesitantly looked into the foggy, shimmering depths of the orb as an image appeared inside. He could see Green holding out his sword as if battling something. Vio, strangely without his glasses and with a bloody nose, in the branches of a tree taking aim with his bow at what Shadow could only assume was the same thing Green was fighting. Blue was carrying Red away from the fight.

“Prism…!” Shadow gasped.

“Yes. Your friend— or rather, friends— are currently locked in a fierce battle with an enemy at the moment. And they are alone. Not a single one of their other friends has come to their aid.”

“If you’re trying to turn me against them again, it won’t work. The others probably just haven’t found them yet.” Shadow said.

“Mmm… perhaps. But they may not have that much time. Look closer.” Nihrie waved his hand and the scene zoomed in on Blue and Red again. Shadow had missed it the first time, with the color of Red’s tunic. But now he could clearly see blood dripping from what appeared to be a stab wound, much clearer as Blue finally set his brother down on the ground before removing his vest and tying it around Red’s body and attempting to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. A thud and a scream echoed through the air, and the scene shifted just in time for Shadow to see Vio fall out of the tree. His partner had tried to land on his feet, but a sickening crack was heard, and Vio crumpled to the ground.

“See now, Shadow Link. See how your friends have suffered…”

“Stop… Stop it!”

“Vio!” Green cried out, now left alone against whatever enemy they were facing. Soon, though, something swept through the air, dealing a heavy blow to his skull. Green’s sword was knocked out of his hand as he was sent flying, a stream of blood beginning to run down his face from a laceration on his forehead.

“...How they are dying.”

“Stop this, I beg you!!!” Shadow cried. He watched as Green tried to get up, but became unsteady and immediately fell back down.

“And nobody is coming to help.” Nihrie continued, ignoring Shadow.

“Please…” Shadow sobbed, thinking about how much pain his family must be in right now, "Please stop…" Inside the orb, a massive hand reached out, grabbing Green by the neck. He was lifted up out of view as the scene inside the orb dissipated into fog once more.

“Now tell me, after witnessing this… Do you truly wish to take the side of those who would leave their own to die?” Nihrie asked. He put a hand on Shadow’s shoulder in a mock gesture of comfort when the dark hero's only response was more sobbing, “Fight for me, Shadow. Avenge your ‘Prism’.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Four?! Is that you?!” Minish called out. He’d heard the sounds of a fight nearby, along with shouts that sounded like Four’s voice.

“STOP! PUT HIM DOWN!!!” Minish heard Four call out again, louder this time. Closer…

“Sounds like he’s in trouble!” Fire commented.

“Well then we’ll just have to help him, won’t we?” Air replied.

“If he’s hurt, there’s no way we can carry him back on our own, can we?” Water asked.

“Hm… You’ve got a point.” Fire admitted, “Any ideas, Earth?”

“I say we cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we need to go see what we can do. We’re only wasting time standing here. Time Four may not have. Let’s move.” Earth said as he took control of the body. Minish started running off in the direction of the voices. What he found was not what he expected, but much worse. A red darknut, which he recognized as one of the same he’d fought during his first adventure as a child, stood towering over the four “Colors” that made up Four. Only Blue was still standing, clutching his side with a grimace of pain on his face. Green must have taken a nasty hit to the head, as he seemed to be barely clinging to consciousness, holding a pale, bloody Red. Vio lay near the roots of a tree, nose bleeding and both legs appearing broken. Only Blue still had his sword in hand; the other three copies lay scattered near where their wielders had fallen.

“Now what do we do?!” Fire wailed.

“Earth, you’re not going to like this…” Air spoke up, “But I can think of only one way to pull this off, if you’ll let me front for a short time.”

“Whatever it takes to save Four, Air. I’ll do it.” Earth agreed.

“When we split, we’ll have to act fast.” Air said.

“Wait, ‘split’?! You mean… Use the Four Sword?” Water asked.

“Yes. I think I know how we can make this work even while the Colors are still using it. When we split, Fire, I need you to tend to Red. Water, try to get Blue out of the fight. Earth, pull Vio over to where Red is so Fire can watch over him too. Then will you two come help me finish off the Darknut?”

“I swore we were done with that old thing…” Earth muttered, “But yes. Of course.” With all the Elements understanding the plan, Air took control once again and made a mad dash for Green’s copy of the sword, raising it up.

“Four Sword! Lend us your strength, one last time!”

In a flash of light, Minish split into four nearly identical copies of his body, each inhabited by one of his headmates: Fire, Water, Earth… and him, Air. He would have run to hug them, but there were greater priorities at hand.

“Alright guys. Let’s go! We can’t afford to waste any time!” Earth ordered. He sprinted over to where Vio lay, and with some difficulty, lifted him up and dragged his unconscious body towards Red and Green, where Fire was already waiting, doing her best to bandage Red’s stab wound properly while she tried to convince Green to drink a potion. Fire always made sure they kept at least a few of those on hand, knowing how often Air tended to lead them into trouble in his search for adventure. Once Vio was safely in Fire’s hands, Earth went to retrieve his sword so he could join Air and Water in the fight.

“We’ll take over from here, Blue. Go back with the others. You’ve done enough.” Water said, putting a hand on Blue’s shoulder.

“No! They need me… I can– I can still fight!” Blue argued.

“Not without a sword, you can’t.” Earth swiftly snatched the Four Sword from Blue’s hands, tossing it over to Water.

“You’re right, your brothers need you. They need you alive. This is a Darknut from our world. We can take it down.” Air chimed in. He then turned towards Water, “Actually, Earth and I can handle this alone. But I need you to run back to the inn and get Hyrule, as quick as you can. Tell him we found Four but we need help right away.”

“Got it. I’ll be right back.” Water nodded, running off towards Crossroads Village and leaving Earth and Air to handle the Darknut.

Water reached the inn fairly quickly, though out of breath when they got there. Time was standing outside when he saw Water approaching. The Chain’s leader had to do a double take when he saw the blue Element, as Water didn’t look exactly like the body, but eventually recognized them.

“Minish?”

“Time! We found Four! He was attacked by a Darknut just outside the village… Get Hyrule, quick!”

A moment later, Hyrule sprinted down the stairs and out of the inn, not even bothering to put on his regular clothes— he was still in the loose brown undershirt, shorts, and he was even barefoot. The only thing he’d grabbed was his bag of medical supplies as he followed Water back to where Four was waiting with the other three Elements.

“Water! Thank goodness!” Fire exclaimed.

“Uh, why are there four of you too?” Hyrule asked.

“We’ll explain later. Red was stabbed and is bleeding out fast.” Air explained.

“Vio’s legs are both broken, as is his nose. Green drank a potion already but he’s got a pretty nasty concussion, and I think Blue might have a few broken ribs. He’s insisting he’s fine, but you might want to take a look anyway.” Earth added. Hyrule was already using his magic to try and heal as much of the damage to Red as he could. He had to save some for the others, but he could at least get Red out of immediate danger.

“Okay, um… Can one of you help Green?” Hyrule requested, “I’ve got bandages in my bag as well as needles, thread, and a few more potions. That cut looks bad and it may need stitches, but I think he’s the least injured one here aside from possibly Blue.”

“I’ve got it!” Fire volunteered.

“Can you two help me set and splint Vio’s legs?” Hyrule gestured to Earth and Water, who both nodded.

“And then you. Minish Green—”

“Air.” Air corrected.

“Air, can you go and figure out where Blue went and bring him back here?”

“Sure.” Air nodded. He had seen Blue walking around earlier while Fire was trying to convince him to sit down and take it easy after a sudden blow to the side he had taken in an attempt to protect his brothers. But where he had gone, Air was unsure… Until he heard a noise. Grunts of pain in between gasps for breath. A bit of blue cloth was visible in the grass not far from where Air stood.

“Blue!” He cried out, sprinting towards him. Blue was curled up on the ground, clutching his ribs as he fought for every breath.

“Rule was right… Think my… ribs are broken—” Blue let out a hacking cough, blood bubbling up to his lips and spraying onto the ground.

“Just hang on, okay?” Air told him, “HYRULE!!! I FOUND BLUE!!!”

“Are the others… okay?” Blue asked, “H-have to know… is Red alive? Vio? Green?”

“They’re okay, yes. Hyrule and the other Elements are finishing up with them as we speak. But now we need to deal with you.” Air said as Blue let out another cough,

“M’ dying, Min… Fuckin’ Darknut… At least my… brothers… are safe.”

“Air! I’m coming!” Hyrule shouted as he ran towards them.

“You’re not dying, Blue. Hyrule is here. The Darknut is defeated. You’re safe now. We’re not going to let you die. Okay?”

“Okay… Th-Thanks, Min.”

“Of course, Raindrop.”

#linked keys #loz au #LK #whumptober2022 #not lu #LK Four #LK Minish #LK Shadow #LK Nihrie

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linkedkeysau-official · 2 years

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Memories from the Palace of the Four Sword

TW: Blood, death

Technically Legend hasn't met Minish yet in Linked Keys, but he will in an upcoming chapter so I decided to doodle something angsty with how I imagined their first meeting going.

Legend is not going to be having a good time around Minish for a while, knowing his fate.

#tw blood #tw death #linked keys #not lu #LK Legend #LK Minish #palace of the four sword #Legend was so smol

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kjpurplepineapple · 2 years

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Prompt time! ❛ i can’t , i can’t , i just — can’t . ❜ with LK Minish (or one or more of his Elements). Because I love them so they need more angst.

When I read this, my first thought was Earth (purple), because he's a very tired boi who just can't do this leader stuff anymore. So that's what I went with-

Minish heard the door to the shop open as what he could only assume was a customer entered.

"I'll be with you in a moment!" He shouted. Luckily, the new blade he'd just started working on had not yet gone into the furnace, so he was able to drop what he was doing in the forge and head up to the front of the shop.

"Hi there, how can I--?" He paused, and immediately, Earth took control of the body when he saw who the customer was. Older. Even more disheveled than he remembered. The same mismatched eyes as the young blacksmith, though with a harsher light to them. But there was no mistaking this man. Father...

"Excuse me, is the owner anywhere around?" He asked, not even acknowledging his son, though perhaps that was for the best.

"Oh, I am the owner. What did you need?" Minish asked, his previously cheerful demeanor replaced by coldness.

"I need a weapon sharpened. I'm going out of town in a few days, but my sword is dull. Could you sharpen it for me?"

"How dare he...? How dare he walk into OUR store and demand we do something for HIM without so much as an apology or even acknowledgement of us?!"

"Sure thing. W- I should have it done by the end of the day if you'd like to pick it up then." Minish replied.

"Thank you." The man nodded. He turned to walk out before turning around and casting another glance at his son. For a moment, his expression indicated recognition. He looked as if he were about to say something... then shook his head and walked out. Minish took the sword back to the forge, though before he could do anything, his hand went slack as his body began to shake. The sword clanged against the hard stone floor. He slowly backed up against the wall, sinking to the floor. Tears streamed down uncontrollably as an endless stream of sobs escaped his lips.

"I cant... I cant... I just... can't!"

The other Elements were shocked. They had never seen Earth break down like this. Earth was supposed to be their leader, their protector... The strongest of all of them. He never cried.

"Air? Water? I need you to go for a moment. Give me some time alone with Earth. I think I know what's wrong." Fire said to her other two headmates. Once they had left, she turned to Earth, "That was father, wasn't it?"

Their father had been the reason Minish split into the Elements in the first place (with the Four Sword merely giving them a physical form). The years of pain, years of abuse they had endured before they were finally taken in by their grandfather... Air and Water weren't supposed to know about all that; Earth and Fire were meant to be their shields. Fire knew that Earth had been trying to shoulder that responsibility on his own. She'd seen how it slowly broke him down, but she couldn't say anything.

Now, it seemed that their father coming into the shop today, even if he didn't recognize them after so many years had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Seeing the man who had caused them so much pain- both physical and emotional- over the years, who treated them like less than dirt, who was so bad at controlling his own emotions following the death of his wife that he would take out his anger in full force on a child... That had finally broken him.

He was so tired... He didn't want to do this anymore. He didn't want to be the leader anymore. Air was the host, but he was far too innocent and naïve to handle the things Earth had to shield him from. And he couldn't just shove that responsibility onto Fire or Water like that, it wouldn't be fair. But he was so, so tired...

He hadn't remembered Fire could hear his thought while they were both fronting until she spoke up in that warm, comforting tone reminiscent of the softer side of her namesake,

"It's okay, Earth. You don't have to do this alone anymore. Water, Air, and I... We're stronger now. You don't have to protect us at your own expense anymore. You can rest now..."

#linked keys #loz au #LK #LK Minish #LK Elements #dissociative system #tw abuse #writing prompts #sorry this took so long

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linkedkeysau-official · 2 years

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Whumptober 2022- Linked Keys edition

Day 24- Blood covered hands

"Ready, Legend?" Minish asked, holding out his favorite, handmade gilded sword.

"Shut up and attack already!" Legend rolled his eyes. He gripped the sword borrowed from Paint tightly as he braced himself, letting Minish make the first move. The Master Sword, and by extension, Legend's Tempered Sword, would burn the holder if raised against another hero; Future had learned that the hard way during a training session with Time. So when Warriors suggested that a few of the boys get some training in, and Minish had offered to be Legend's sparring partner, Paint had lent Legend his sword instead.

Minish smirked, then charged at Legend. Legend quickly raised his blade to block, then pushed back against Minish to get him into a more open and vulnerable position. Normally Legend wouldn’t be able to pull that off, but Minish was small enough that it was easy; Legend had the advantage. He thrust forward to counterattack now that Minish was off-balance, but much to his surprise, Minish ducked under his strike, sweeping his leg into Legend’s and knocking him over. If Minish managed to pin him down, that would be the end of the match. But Legend wasn't eager to give up the win so easily. He saw the next move coming and rolled out of the way, swiftly getting back on his feet before Minish could pin him to the ground.

He knew Minish's fighting style. He'd fought him before. Of course, this was a sparring match and not a fight to the death, and that had been a version of Minish under the influence of dark power, but Legend could recognize a pattern. Anything Minish tried, Legend knew how to counter. It almost seemed an unfair matchup, honestly. But Minish had insisted on being Legend's practice partner, so if Legend beat him, that was on Minish.

“You’re good, Ledge!” Minish said, watching as Legend had evaded yet another attack and nearly knocked the blade out of Minish’s hand in retaliation. Minish was beaming, though. It had been so long since he’d gotten some real practice with someone of a similar skill level.

“Years of practice.” Legend replied. He lunged at Minish again, the smaller hero just barely managing to step aside to avoid the attack. As it was, the edge of Legend’s sword had cut through the front of Minish’s apron and tunic, grazing the skin of his chest.

“Gah!” Minish cried out. It didn’t hurt much; it was mostly just out of surprise. Still, Legend stopped and lowered his weapon.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Minish replied. A small line of blood was beginning to soak through his clothes, “Oh, crap…” he said when he noticed. Legend’s eyes widened in fear as he too noticed the blood. To him, of course, it looked a lot worse than it was.

“Shit…” He muttered, covering his mouth with his hands before running his fingers through his hair, gripping his pink bangs anxiously, “No, no, no, NO! I’m so sorry…!”

“Hey, Legend, calm down! It’s just a scratch! Barely even bleeding. Really, I’m fine!” Minish said. Legend seemed too distraught to really hear.

“Not again… NOT AGAIN!!! I CAN’T DO THIS AGAIN!!!” He screamed, sinking to his knees on the ground, still clutching at his head. Minish was confused.

“Ledge? What’s wrong?” Minish knelt down beside him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder, “What can’t you do?”

“I can��t… I don't… I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU! Not again…" Legend wailed.

"Don't worry, I'm not dying. Really, look, it's just a scratch. I've gotten worse cuts trying to sharpen a sword before." Minish assured him. Legend's head snapped up to look at him, absolute horror in his light blue eyes,

"Maybe you're not dying, but… I still hurt you. Just like before. Your blood is on my hands again, and I just…!" Legend's mouth curved upwards in a hysterical, pained smile, and it was hard to tell if he was laughing or crying.

Again? What does he mean, "again"? He's never hurt me before… In fact he's been excessively cautious around me since the day we met, Minish thought.

"Alright. Let's just sit down. And I want you to tell me everything. Why are you so afraid?" He asked. Legend hesitated. He wasn't the type to open up to people easily, but Minish at least deserved to know what Legend had done to him in what now must have been another timeline. He took a deep breath and began to explain,

"When I was on my first adventure, about 6 years ago… Towards the end of it, I visited this temple called the Palace of the Four Sword. Inside I found a ton of monsters, of course, but also four copies of what I now know was the Four Sword itself. And the whole place had this sort of curse." Legend started to say, "After defeating all the monsters in each of the four areas, I was confronted by what I thought were four… regular Dark Links. So as expected, I cut them down and thought nothing of it."

"But they weren't regular dark Links?" Minish guessed. Legend shook his head.

"I don't know. But I didn't think much of it until I met you. It can't be a coincidence that the place was called the Palace of the Four Sword, had the Four Sword inside of it, and…the dark Links looked just like you, the original Hero of the Four Sword. Now every time I look at you, I can't help but wonder if l those things I killed… If that was actually you." Legend wiped his eyes as tears began to form. His voice quavered slightly as he continued, "I'm… I'm a murderer, Min. I killed a fellow hero just because he got in my way. I don't… I don't deserve to be called a hero, let alone your friend or b…Brother…" Legend couldn't hold it in anymore, and broke down sobbing. Minish was taken aback by this confession, but immediately felt bad for Legend. He hadn't known any better, and Minish was now a living reminder of something that had to be pretty traumatizing for a teenager, a kid. Minish threw his arms around Legend, hugging him tightly for a moment before pulling away, his multicolored eyes meeting Legend's icy blue ones.

"Look, I don't know exactly what went down in that place. But I do know that even if it was me that you killed… Well you said the Four Sword had been cursed. If that was the case, and the me that appeared could be mistaken for a Dark Link, then I was probably under the influence of some dark magic, and had been for quite some time. You probably acted in self-defense, and by killing me you would have put me out of my misery." Minish told him firmly, "So stop thinking of yourself as a murderer. You only did what you had to do. And besides, it might have been me, it might not have been. Who knows? Point is, you are a hero. And I was completely serious when I said you didn't hurt me during practice. It was just a scratch. It didn't even really hurt."

"Minish… Can you promise me something?" Legend asked.

"Hm?"

"Stay away from pyramids… alright?"

#linked keys #loz au #LK #whumptober2022 #not lu #LK Legend #LK Minish

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