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ghost-at-the-masquerade · 3 years

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Taking the Day Off

Rated T, 3,724 words

Summary: Link and Riju have a (mostly) fun day out

A/N: This is not shippy and you are not welcome to read it as such

Stinging sand pelts any bit of exposed skin it can find and sings off their golden shinguards. Scorching desert air whips past their face, hot even with the shield of cooling magic drifting down from their headband.

Ahead of them, Riju’s hair whips wild and free. She laughs and lifts her fingertips into the air like she’s skimming them over the surface of a pond. No crown or jewelry today, just long, baggy clothes in brilliant red, purple and gold.

The two are headed northwest, out from the shadow of the city. Nowhere to go and no one to answer to. Riju guides them past the dangers of the desert with ease, even with its landmarks few and far between. Weaving between pillars on their way toward the ruins, slowing her breakneck pace only to regale them with the the names and glories of the weathered statues they passed.

Grand, statuesque heroines and goddesses uncommon to the mainland. Resonu, conquerer of sandstorms, who tricked the wind into hiding their secrets; Sabis, the goddess who cleaved the stone of the valley and allowed the Gerudo into the rest of Hyrule.

Link studies their crumbling faces and missing weapons, and they have to ask, “But why are they in such a state…?”

“It’s a kind of… symbolic thing. Allowing them to return to the land, in their own time.”

Still, the concern didn’t quite all fall away at first.

“Don’t worry, they’re not forgotten - statues are not how we record history.” She laughed and hurried Patricia along once again.

They reach the depths of the ruins, sheltered by the bleached bones of ancient things and the shadow of the highland.

“We believe they’re a migrant cousin of the Dodongo,” Riju says, running a reverent hand over one massive vertebrae, “native to Death Mountain and speculated to have a cousin in Hebra as well.

Their gut clenched at the very idea of something that big ever lurking in the sand, like the molduga. “What happened to them?”

“Of course the obvious answer is that they died off, but some of our scholars think they may have shrunk instead, as they moved out deeper into the desert.”

“Shrunk?” They signed with a laugh, one which Riju echoed.

“Yes, well, maybe that’s not the way to put it. If Hebra has anything in common with a volcano, it’s mineral-rich stone. But they wouldn’t have that here. So they became smaller to compensate the lack of food.”

“Why not just move back?”

She shrugged, “The ways of beasts are never truly known.”

At last they slowed to a stop under the watchful eye of a stone swordswoman. Unhooking from their mounts, they stuck their shields upright in the sand. Stepping up onto the hot sandstone of her base, they sat together in her shadow.

Riju stuck her canteen upright in the sand in front of her and pulled a bag from her hip, untying it and laying the cloth out on her lap. Inside lay her midday meal, for which she had packed a small spread of cooked meats, seared veggies and sweet wild berries.

Link pointed to the berries and asked, “Dalia’s garden?” before turning to dig through their own pouch, feeling through its endless depths for the right pocket.

“Yes, she was very excited for her first harvest and insisted I should have some. I still don’t know how she gets them to grow here, they rarely even survive the trip from the bazaar.” She says, biting into one in earnest. She spoke through a shameless mouthful, “They were my favorite as a child.”

They laughed softly and considered telling her she still was one, but thought better of it. Instead they pulled a hydromelon from their pouch, setting it between their feet. They drew a guardian sword with a bit of flourish, halving the melon with a satisfying ‘chunk’. Juice seeped down and disappeared into the sand. Link offered half to Riju, who tossed it to her seal. Patricia barked happily at the treat.

Flicking the juice from the blade, they put it away, returning the two to companionable silence as they watched the shimmering distance and the slow progression of shadows across the sands. Every now and again, a hot desert breeze flapped a bit of cloth or hair, a quiet third companion while they ate.

When she was done, Riju used a bit of her water to wash her hands of the berry juice. She dried them with the cloth that had held her lunch before securing it to her belt again, then stood and stretched her legs, watching Link with a lopsided smile as they opted instead to suck their fingers clean.

“That’s rather childish.”

“Says you.” They puffed out their cheeks and pointed at her, poking fun at her lack of manners earlier.

She gave a good-natured huff and didn’t respond further, tapping her foot.

They laughed, rising and prying both of their shields from the sand, handing Riju hers.

Riju called the seals, who had been playing and chasing each other just a little ways away. Clipping in, they were off again, headed further west after deciding it best to steer clear of the old Yiga base, even if it had been abandoned. Far enough to clear the boneyard before swerving south, staying far from the stone cliff that marked a known molduga nest. A dust cloud could be seen on the horizon.

The distant nest disappeared behind a dune and small clusters of cacti came into view. Link slowed their seal, dropping behind a few yards and pulling an ornate golden bow from their back. They nocked an arrow and let fly as they passed a row of cacti, piercing one of the fruits, the momentum ripping it from its root and sending it flying. They grabbed the arrow by the shaft as they passed, jerking it free and frowning at the sand caked into the juice that had leaked out.

Riju laughed at them as they caught up. “Watch this.” She said, and she called to Patricia, veering hard to the right, up a steep dune. She crested the mound and jumped, snagging one of the fruits mid-air.

She swerved lazily, proudly back and forth as she rejoined them.

“Not bad.”

“At least you can eat this one.” She said, tossing it to them.

They put both it and the one they had attempted to clean away before signing, “I think you can do better.”

“Oh do you?” She said, and when they nodded she continued, “I might have another trick up my sleeve.”

Before they could even goad her, she was moving fast up the next large dune and Link had to hurry to see what she would do next.

Riju launched herself sidelong into the air, snapping up her line so that she unhooked herself from Patricia, doing a quick spin. Amazingly, she stuck the landing, but failed to snap back into Patricia’s harness and the momentum left her spiraling into a face-full of sand.

When Link slowed to a stop beside her, she popped up on her hands and knees, smiling, “It actually almost worked! That’s the closest I’ve ever gotten!”

Link laughed and cheered, offering her a hand up. “Very impressive. But no fruit.”

She stuck her tongue out and kicked a bit of sand in their direction before walking back over to Patricia. Link just laughed again while they waited for her.

There wasn’t time to turn and see. And even if there had been, there wouldn’t have been time to run. The sand beneath them burst open, exploding upward in a great shower of earth and taking Link with it, while Riju was thrown aside.

Time slowed for a split second at the crest of her flight, hung sideways in the air while she tried to make sense of anything that was happening. Then Riju landed, hard, rolling only a few precious feet away. She whipped her aching head up and watched, wide-eyed, horrified as Link was snapped up in the mighty jaws of the molduga with a wet crack. The line severed, their terrified seal dropped back to the sand, where it bolted for the safety of town.

Riju scrambled away, the sand swelling as the beast returned to the depths and sent her tumbling head over heels. Faithful Patricia met her where she fell and Riju grabbed the harness, letting herself be dragged away.

There was little else but desert around her now - the empty expanse between the ruins and the uninhabitable. She urged Patricia back the way they had come, toward the ruins, as she could feel the beast rumbling somewhere below, following them and gaining speed. Her heart raced, her breathing came through clenched teeth, her legs stinging with pins and needles.

In what felt like just the nick of time, Patricia threw herself onto another square of sandstone, taking Riju with her. Girl and seal huddle together beneath the statue, Riju’s fingers balled in Patricia’s mane. For long moments, she hears nothing but her own pulse in her ears. The molduga’s trail stops just a few yards behind them.

This is not a known nest. The earth here is too hard, too uneven, too cool for an adult to move through. Though judging from the size of the trail it left, that was just it; it was a juvenile, more reckless and less predictable than its elders.

With that perspective on her situation, Riju surveyed the area, judging the distance between rocks, wondering if there was any way they could move between them fast enough, wondering how long and how far it would follow, wondering if she could ever get out. She pulled the sword from her hip, held it tight in a shaking fist. She could defend herself - but a sword was almost nothing against the tough hide of a molduga, even a young one. There was a system to taking one down, one she knew but had no tools for.

Even as she thought of her own survival, her final glimpse of her friend in the jaws flashed before her eyes. She whispers a prayer for them, but cannot bring herself to close her watering eyes.

Her breath catches in her throat as the thing’s shovel-jaw breaks the surface once more. Thrashing and squealing, plumes of dark smoke escaping with every cry. She dares not hope - but then there they are. There’s hardly a patch on them not bloodied, but they’re there, still moving, hands and feet braced precariously between jagged teeth, whole body shaking with the effort to keep the jaws from coming down. Riju jerks up onto one knee, but her legs give out under the weight of fear and helplessness. Even from here she can hear Link’s ragged, frightened breathing.

She blinks and the molduga’s mouth had snapped shut, but somehow, Link is on the other side, thrown out on the sand on their stomach. Her own voice sounds distance in her ears as she calls out to Patricia.

Staying as low to the ground as she can, she has Patricia whip her out in a sharp u-turn, just close enough to snag Link under the arms. There’s not a second to spare while the beast recovers, spewing the last of the smoke. She grits her teeth and has to adjust her footing, but she can manage the weight. The three tumble onto the stone in another heap. Somewhere behind them, the enraged molduga burrows.

Riju’s hearing comes back into sharp focus, wide eyes darting over her fallen friend as she pulls back from them. There’s too much, it’s too much, says the static in her brain as she scrabbles for their pouch, for whatever hope it might hold.

She stops when suddenly there’s a soft blue light that grows in strength. A thousand-thousand tiny threads that coalesce. She’s frozen as she watches, as she hears a soft voice, so faint she’s not quite sure she really heard it. The light and the threads envelop and sink into their figure. Link picks themself up, whole again. They touched their head gingerly, shaking it to clear their vision. Their face lit up when they saw her.

“Riju!” They croaked out, before switching back to signing, fingers shaking and a relieved laugh on their lips, “Thank every goddess and sage, you’re alright, I wasn’t sure- couldn’t see-”

“I’m alright?!” She sputtered, flabbergasted, unable to decide if she should play it off or be annoyed or just thankful. She chose instead to throw her arms around them, squeezing with all her might. She pushed them out to arm’s length again - then yanked them closer to the statue. “Why aren’t you dead?!”

“… That’s not a very nice thing to ask.”

“It ate you!” She gestured to all of them with an open hand.

Link smiled sheepishly, shrugging helplessly, “That happens.”

Riju opened her mouth to answer but decided against it, switching instead to the issue at hand. “We need to get out of here.”

Their expression steeled and they gave a firm nod. They rose to their feet and turned to scan the rocks, much as Riju had done, then pulled out their map. Riju stood close behind, watching as they zoomed in close and slowly scrolled through the area. There were areas of hard, raised earth and old structures dotted along for a good while out east, but after that was a large gap of open desert. They’d have no chance of crossing to the city if the thing followed them that far. And the implications of leading it that close to a densely populated area were terrifying regardless.

Clipping the slate back to their belt, they asked, “How well can you climb?”

Riju looked to the highlands, then back to Link. “Not well enough to climb that, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Link studied the distant wall for a long moment, lips pursed pensively. They could maybe carry her up, but getting back down was another matter - another matter that would probably take a whole extra day of travel, since they had no idea if the glider could handle both their weight, and they’d never risk her safety on it. Never mind the fact that they’d have to leave Patricia behind.

They turned to consider the distance to the city. There was no telling how long it would take for the thing to give up on them. How long they could be stuck in the elements, waiting. Even if Link had plenty of resources in their bags to sustain the both of them through the wait, people would come looking. And people would get hurt.

They turned back to Riju, something unreadable on their face. “We’ll have to kill it.”

“Okay.” Was her answer. Neither eager nor resigned, just a statement of fact.

While they didn’t want to have to involve her, having her on standby for another save could make all the difference. “You get to something more solid, I’m going up there.” They pointed to the nearest skeleton.

She nodded, and before they could say anything else, she was dashing across the sand to an outcropping of stone. Icy anxiety twisted in Link’s gut. Both of them watched the waves of sand intently, hearts racing as it turned and charged in their direction. But she was able to jump up on the outcropping safely, close behind her seal. She knelt to steady herself, holding a hand to her chest as she watched the molduga continue to approach. It skirted far too close to her haven, sitting only feet above the sand. While it shimmied its fin angrily above the surface, it didn’t risk the jump; their vision was generally poor, and a bad jump at hard stone could result in a broken jaw.

Link only relaxed when she turned a smile back to them, the two sharing an awkward, stressed laugh. It was Link’s turn now. They turned their eye to the towering ribcage of something long dead. It was sloped enough that it wouldn’t take much actual climbing, but it would certainly take sure footing, without much room for mistakes. The molduga circled in the distance, searching.

They reached into their pouch, pulling from it a pair of sand boots; the molduga was circling closer now, and they would need every advantage they could get. They downed a rancid potion, too. Geared up, hyped up, they sprinted straight toward the ancient bones, almost immediately regretting not stopping off with Riju; it was closing fast.

Riju choked on her heart, throwing a hand up to shield her face as the sand exploded a second time. Whatever miracle had saved Link the first time, she was sure it couldn’t save them a second time. Fortunately, it didn’t have to, as the beast’s aim was off this time. Instead of snapping them up for an easy snack, it threw them high, almost over the pile of bones. They nearly rolled down the other side, scrabbling and scratching to get a grip, scraping their fingers and breaking nails, but able to hold on.

After the beast had disappeared below once again, Link hauled themself back up top, waving to Riju to let her know they were okay. Then, crouched atop the crest of the skull, Link drew one bomb from the slate, then the other. The round one they held between their legs, the other they tossed to the ground. The moving mound of sand stopped. They had its attention. Link pointed the slate down at it and clicked the trigger, sending up a shower of sand. When the molduga started to move again, they tossed the second bomb into the crater left by the first and waited.

When the molduga breached for what they hoped was the last time, they clicked the trigger again. It shrieked in pain, jerking to the side to land with a thunderous thud. One of its teeth came clean out, flipping away to bury deep in the sand.

Riju and Patricia were on the move before it had settled. She circled around it, looking for a soft spot and, finding none, opted to jam her sword into its underside, starting just under one of its pitiful little legs. It was a struggle, but she managed to pull it along as she passed, leaving a large, bleeding gash. Pulling her curved blade free, she whipped around to make another pass. When she hit the tougher hide toward its jaw, the bade stuck and jerked out of her hand. She muttered a curse and headed back to the relative safety of the rock formation.

Meanwhile, Link had dropped down from on high, putting their weight into the master sword, glinting bright as it pierced the beast above one of its tiny red eyes. Landing on their feet and barely keeping the pommel from jamming into their face, they wrenched the blade free, stabbing it again and again, every thrust going deeper until the molduga let out its last pitiful wail and stopped its pained thrashing. They stumbled and slipped off as it settled.

After taking a moment to catch their breath, Link, ever the scavenger, put away the master sword and got out something shorter. They sawed off some good chunks of the hardy fin cartilage before moving on to widen the gashes Riju had started.

Patricia at her side, Riju stepped closer, still shaking with adrenaline. “Gross.”

Link only shrugged and continued harvesting. Riju couldn’t think of anything else to say. When she retrieved her own sword she found the blade badly dulled, with a chip toward the tip. She returned it to her hip anyway.

After the exhausting chase, Patricia didn’t have the strength to pull them both, and the other seal was long gone, so they made the trek back on foot. The wind returned, ever welcome as they made their way home. Many steps passed in tired silence.

Somewhere about the halfway point, Link gently tapped Riju’s shoulder so they could sign, “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to do that.”

She laughed - she couldn’t help it. “And you should have?”

“My… responsibility.”

Riju shook her head and touched their arm in a way that might have been an aborted shove. “It’s already done now. We made a good team.”

They struggled for a moment longer, but finally agreed, “… We did.”

The sun was all but gone and the chill of night had set in by the time they got back, far later than they were supposed to. Buliara met them outside the walls, clearly doing her best not to seem fretful, and only further losing her composure as soon as she saw the molduga’s blood dried across the both of them.

“What happened?” She demanded, forceful in her worry.

Riju answered, tired but straight to the point, “A juvenile molduga that wandered too far east.”

Buliara took a sharp breath, going stiff in the shoulders.

Riju continued before she could speak, starting them walking toward the gate again, “It is slain. But I want a convoy out in the morning to look for more.”

“Yes, chief. I will inform the guard immediately.”

The pair of guards at the western gate greeted them, stoic as ever, but their relief at Riju’s safe return was betrayed by the set of their shoulders. One of them accompanied the party into the city, staying a few steps behind the chief. At the steps of the palace she split off to tell the captain what had transpired.

Finally back inside the palace, Riju turned back to Link. “Thank you, Link. It was fun, until the part where you got eaten.”

“Same.” They signed with a laugh.

“We’ll have to do it again some time.” She waved as she started up to her room, followed by Buliara.

They waved a second longer than they should have. Then it was just them and the remaining guards in the hall. Link’s ears perked up as a thought occurred to them. After a moment of digging, they offered one of them the bag filled with the molduga’s foul-smelling innards.

The smile she offered in return wasn’t quite as bright as Link’s, but she didn’t hesitate to take it. “Thank you. I trust you know where the baths are?”

#Makeela Riju #botw riju #the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #botw fic #she's like 12 you cretins

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ghost-at-the-masquerade · 3 years

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Recklessly Polite

Rating: G

Count: 1581

Summary: Link is invited to a spring celebration on Death Mountain

It's traditional, Yunobo says. A celebration of the coming of spring. A joyous occasion he can't imagine not having Link participate in. What spring means on a volcano, they haven't yet worked out, but they also haven't worked out how to say 'no' to an invitation.

The gorons around them are cheering something in their own language, each and every one fired up and eager to get started. The racers are all done up in regalia Link's never seen before; smooth golden shoulder guards connected with a sash as red as the depths of the mountain, the goron ruby embroidered on it in gold thread. Much like Yunobo with Daruk's scarf, they all had a unique piece representing their families.

From his spot upon the lip of the volcano, the elder manages to shout over the crowd, quieting even the rowdiest of them to at least a dull roar.

"Brothers!" he cries, his arms raised high, "We have a special guest with us here this year, and one to whom we have a lot to prove!" The elder looks down at Link, all mischief and good humor as he declares, "So give them everything you've got!"

Despite their uncertainty Link nods, and can't help but smile at the uproar of playful teasing that follows. They can only laugh at being jostled by so many large hands.

Yunobo shoots them a warm smile and a pair of thumbs-up before getting into the starting position. Link returns the gesture and braces themself, heart pumping, waiting for the explosion that would signal the start of the race. They adjust the helmet over their head one last time, staring down the long and craggy track. It's more than just the heat that has them sweating.

The force of it so close behind them almost knocks them off their feet, causing them to start a second behind the others. With no time to practice and no intention of participating in the first place, they didn't actually have a plan. Following their first instinct had them throwing themself head over heels into a roll, picking up dangerous and wild momentum almost instantly.

It was impossible to see where they were going; they only caught brief glimpses of gorons around them, both audience and racer - and brief, terrifying flashes of lava as they sailed over it. Though Daruk's blessing and the hardy cloth of their fire-proof suit kept them safe from any real harm, a choked gasp for air was punched out of them with every landing.

After the first slope had thrown them clean over a small plateau, they came to a bruised and bumbling stop with their heels grating against the stone. The crowd gasps and murmurs while Link waits for the pitching and spinning of their vision to slow, at least enough for them to get to their feet. The pack was quickly passing them by. Concerned healers were heading their way, squawking a confounded, "Little brother, what on earth are you doing?"

Link only shrugged and smiled at them, jogging towards the next slope and getting out a rusty shield. Just ahead, they catch a flash of a bright blue scarf, and their target is set.

Sparks fly out behind them on the harsh stone, the grating drowned out by a fresh cheer; they'll take that as approval of their non-traditional methods. Here the ground was beginning to even out, the cracks full of molten lava far less frequent. They wove around the larger stones, gaining speed, gaining ground on the first of their opponents. To their shock, once they were in range, the goron swerved hard in their direction, sharp defensive spikes sprouting from their back and ripping new grooves into the track. The crowd gasped at the aggressive gesture but Link, once they had recovered from the initial shock, only laughed, full and deep in their chest.

Drawing a rock crusher from the infinite depths of their pouch, Link skirted hard toward the stranger. They took a swing once he was in range, a miss that sent them scrambling to counter-balance the momentum of the heavy stone weapon. Countering, however, left them with a dramatic loss in speed that their opponent was eager to take advantage of; rather than just pass them and have it be over, he pulled his arms free and dug hard fingers into stone, leaving his spiny back directly in their path. Link took a sharp gasp of the burning hot air and whipped the crusher out in front of themself.

The spike that made first contact left a jagged gouge in the side of the crusher. The goron howled, though it was hard to say if from pain or just surprise, as the tip of the spike snapped off. This break let them twist away, sailing past their opponent, though he's quick to tear at the earth and start after them again.

Crossing and narrowly missing each other time and again, passing each other and being forced to fall back, the friendly rivalry kept on through most of the open plain. Onlookers held their breath, far more aware of the danger than Link themself. Finally, they felt like they had seen enough, knew enough about his patterns, and Link took one more decisive swing. The hooked end of the crusher caught him in the side, sending him spiraling far out of range, disappearing behind a fork in the track. With a victorious cheer, they tossed their weapon on their back and pressed their weight forward, determined to catch up to their friend before the end.

Soon the pack passed from rocky plain to a narrow pass filled with stone pillars. The other racers disappeared from view, but there was no time to worry about that; the ground was uneven, pitching them unpredictably to and fro, making pillars difficult to reliably dodge. Link crouched low, hoping to take a bit more control. Somewhere off to their left they heard a pained grunt as someone smacked into one of the pillars. Several more were heard as the path took a sharp turn and became ever narrower. Some of the pillars at the edge of their vision even rattled with the impact, sending pebbles scattering down the track like tiny racers.

When at last the pillar-filled pass opened up, it was into the final stretch; a long, steep slope that eased into a plateau at the finish line. Several racers had already finished, and there would be no catching Yunobo before the end, but they could hear the rumbling of numerous others they could still beat.

Glancing back, their eyes widened to see the other racers piling in behind them. More than a few had drawn their spikes and were swerving toward each other. Link's ears stood on end at the sound of metal scraping against itself - or, whatever those spikes were made of. Mentally they leafed through their options, trying to think of any way to go faster and coming up with nothing. Gravity was doing all the work here. They try anyway, almost down on their knees. When they adjust their weight they can feel several spots where the shield has worn dangerously thin.

All they can do now is call on Daruk and hope for the best. His protection dulls some of the noise and the burning wind whipping past them. Link can feel their heart beat with a familiar rhythm. Daruk's voice sounded in their head, growling as a crack formed in the back of the magical dome. They look back again, just in time to catch the goron who had glanced off the barrier. The pack had closed in much faster than they had anticipated, and now a few were pulling ahead, boxing them in.

Just as they hit the last curve leading onto the plateau, their shield finally gave up the ghost, cracking jaggedly down the center. With a sharp gasp they were thrown back into a wild roll. Now waiting on the sidelines, Yunobo watched in utter horror as Link disappeared into the crowd. The hero themself couldn't say much of what happened from there, shutting their eyes against the flashes of red stone and blue sky and terrifyingly close goron spikes.

The avalanche of gorons, Link just barely keeping from getting flattened between them, tumbled at last across the finish line. Some failed to stop and hit the far wall, others ground their hands into the stone and ended up piling on top of each other. Yunobo ran for all he was worth.

"Link!" Yunobo shouted, concern thick in his voice as he pushed through the crowd, literally tossing a few still-rolled gorons aside in his desperation to find them.

Laying on their back, the sky spinning slowly above them, Link raised a thumb for Yunobo to see they were alright.

"Oh, good, what a relief," He sighed, a hand to his chest. Perking up again, he said, "You did amazing, Link! I mean, I knew you would, but wow!"

Link stayed where they were while Yunobo gushed. Daruk's magic had been exhausted, but a few wisps still hovered around them, as if Daruk himself was still curled around them in a desperate attempt to keep them from getting crushed. With a soft, appreciative smile, they closed their eyes for a moment to tell him it was alright now.

Then Yunobo was pulling them to their feet, pushing them toward the final ceremony on legs full of pins and needles.

#the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #botw #botw fic #I really have no idea how to tag these

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