#Ghirahim you get a pass

[myststone]

SHE’LL BE OKAY

GUYS THE SWORD IS GLOWING FI’LL BE OKAY

Right?

Right ya’ll? ;-;

[skyloftian-nutcase]

"Shouldn't he rest, though?"

"If he stays in bed too long, he'll only grow weaker."

Link turned his face away from the voices, eager to slip back into the peaceful inky black of slumber. His head was hurting too much for this.

"Wake up, little hero."

A hand shook him slightly, pushing his shoulder further into the comfortable mattress. The movement sent a spike of pain up his neck into his skull, further articulating the headache he was desperately trying to ignore. With an angry, sharp inhale, he opened his eyes.

When he turned to view the person in question, he remembered his situation.

Huffing, he rasped, "What do you want?"

"I don't need your attitude, kid," Nabooru quipped lightly. "This is for your own good. You need to get up, and you need to eat and drink."

Link came up with a few snarky responses but found he was too tired to argue the matter. He let her pull him into a seated position, and he shifted his feet to the edge of the bed hesitantly. The last time he'd tried this he'd nearly passed out. He wasn't even sure how long ago that had been at this point - the exhaustion finally seemed to have won out over his will to escape.

Did that make him pathetic or intelligent? Zelda had always pushed herself so hard and never seemed to stop. He should do better.

Gritting his teeth, the captain pushed himself to stand. Nabooru had steadying hands on him, helping him shakily take a few steps towards the door.

Alertness came to him an instant, alongside hope. He was moving! He could survey his situation better if he let her guide him outside, he could find a way to escape the Gerudo stronghold, perhaps even retrieve the Triforce that Ganondorf had stolen!

Air moved on his other side, the only hint he had of someone moving beside him before an unsettling face invaded his personal space.

"Oh, so the wretched Hero is up and about now?" Ghirahim purred, lips curling in an unsettling smile.

"You're in the way," Nabooru said flatly.

The demon lord huffed, straightening and crossing his arms. "Must you ruin the moment, woman? You don't understand how long I've waited for this."

"Your rivalry is with the spirit, not the child," Nabooru said firmly. "Leave him be."

Link blinked, confused. With the spirit?

Oh. The Spirit of the Hero. The same person Cia had fallen into an obsession with. The same person who Zelda looked to with hope and conviction and dedication. The person who was supposed to be him, the person he strove to be every day.

Why... why were they talking about it like it was someone else?

Link scoffed. "I'm not a child. I am the bearer of the Hero's Spirit. If it's a fight you want--"

The rest of the captain's statement was cut off with a yelp as Nabooru swatted at Ghirahim and dragged Link away. "That's enough of this nonsense. I took you out here to get fresh air, not pick a fight with the first idiot you find."

"Idiot?!" Ghirahim repeated, affronted, though he was left behind by the pair as Link was practically carried outside the compound.

It was evening outside, Link realized, making him feel all the more disoriented. How long had it been since his capture? How long had been asleep? It had certainly been brighter when he'd encountered Ganondorf.

As he was guided to sit in a pile of cushions, a waterskin placed into his hands, Link saw a group of Gerudo women dancing and laughing. Others were playing music, and a crowd was clapping along. On a raised platform sat their king, also enjoying the festivities, though much more solemnly than his warriors. Ganondorf's eyes flicked over to the captain a moment, studying him, and Link felt his skin crawl. He glared defiantly in return.

Ganondorf returned his attention elsewhere, and Link's brooding was interrupted when Nabooru snapped her fingers in his face.

"Drink," she ordered.

Reluctantly, Link complied. There was no point in not hydrating; he needed strength to find a way out of this place. After a few sips, his body suddenly registered just how utterly dehydrated he was, and he emptied it in a heartbeat.

Glancing to her left, Nabooru said, "Watch him."

Link looked to his right and saw another Gerudo warrior walk up beside him, sword drawn and held erect against the ground while her hands rested overtop the hilt.

"What do you people want from me?" he asked, his voice gaining some strength now that his throat wasn't quite so parched.

"I wanted to kill you," the woman grumbled, and Link recognized her as the last thing he saw before he was knocked out in battle. "But our king had other plans."

The captain once again glanced at the perpetrator of this entire mess, feeling himself shiver a little. What did such a monster want with him? He already had the Triforce, after all. Was Link needed for some kind of ritual?

Was he going to capture Zelda as well, then?

Wait... was Link bait?

He had to get out of here.

Nabooru returned quickly, a bowl of curry in her hands. She held it out to the captain, who hesitantly took it. The guard walked away silently.

"I don't suppose you can tell me why your king wants me alive," Link muttered, staring at the curry. He didn't really know how to feel about any of this at this point, except that he was most certainly on edge and wanted to get the hell away from here.

Nabooru watched him a moment, seeming to make a decision in her mind, and sat beside him to watch the dancers. The lively music didn't quite reach the cold atmosphere Link's dread generated, but the Gerudo woman at his side was a steady presence, somehow less intimidating than the others.

"You are the Hylian Hero," Nabooru said. "The Spirit of the Hero travels with you."

"I am the Hero," Link emphasized, feeling his ire rise. He had drawn the Master Sword, he had led troops into battle time and again, he bore the Triforce of Courage, and he was the one Zelda had chosen to wear the legendary garb.

"Our king is quite interested in you," Nabooru continued, ignoring his interruption. "I must confess, I didn't expect you to be so... young."

Rolling his eyes, Link looked away. "Many say that. Most don't live to regret it."

Nabooru laughed at that. "Spoken like a warrior filled with spirit and a thirst to prove himself. I admire your ability to fight, child. Don't doubt that. I started fighting around your age too. But don't forget your place. You are still young, and you know very little of the world outside of a battlefield."

"Am I going to learn about wartime strategy and politics here, then?" Link prodded, glancing back at her. "Am I being held hostage as a bartering chip?"

"My understanding of it is that you're being held to keep you safe," Nabooru answered unexpectedly, looking him in the eye with a seriousness he wasn't expecting. "But only the king knows his own plans. I just happen to be the leader of the Gerudo."

"I thought the king was?"

"He wasn't here until a few weeks ago," Nabooru replied, looking away. "Our people were mostly wiped out by Hyrule."

Link felt his throat go dry, and he had no words to say while simultaneously having so many in his mind.

What did she mean that Hyrule had wiped out the Gerudo? Had they attacked Hyrule in the past? A war between the Gerudo and Hyrule could explain why Link barely knew of their existence, and why that other guard wanted him dead. But what about the other statement, about keeping him safe? What kind of nonsense was that?

Ganondorf needed him for something, clearly. He needed him, and he knew Link was too powerful a soldier to keep in play in the war. He was crippling the Hyrulean army and preventing Link from dying so he could utilize him for something.

This had to do with the Triforce, didn't it? Link knew so little of the artifact, except for its origin story.

He wished Lana was here to explain the situation. He'd even take Impa.

Sighing, Link stared at his curry, his stomach growling but his appetite disappearing as his musings clouded his mind.

[moefongo]

zelda villain sleep headcanons?

The villains sleep headcanons

Ganondorf

Sleeps like a log, seriously there is nothing that wakes Ganondorf up.

He's also a blanket hog, and during colder seasons, he'll sleep with an unholy amount of blankets, quilts, and anything he can use to keep himself warm.

Snores loudly too, so if hearing a lawnmower all night long is white noise to you then he's your man.

Ghirahim

He claims that he doesn't have the need to sleep because he is perfect, but that is a huge lie. Ghirahim needs his 8 hrs of sleep otherwise he'll be insufferable for the whole day.

When he sleeps he doesn't move or make any noises he just plops into the bed and falls asleep in whatever position he landed on the bed (and good luck trying to make him scoot over to his side of the bed if he decides to sleep in a diagonal position)

Zant

His sleep schedule is all sorts of fucked up but that's on his own volition. He sleeps whenever he feels like it and if he has nothing going on during the day he'll just go and sleep.

His sleeping pattern can go from sleeping 1 hour and feeling fresh as a daisy and sleeping for three days straight.

Also has these curtains that make the room super dark so it feels like it's night time all day long so its easier for him to sleep.

Volga

Sleeps anywhere. He's usually a light sleeper since he tends to be on high alert at all times.

Whenever he has time for himself, he uses it to sleep and rest properly.

So he'll probably out be cold for a whole day, but if he has something to do later in the day he'll try to wake up by then but it's not guaranteed.

Wizzro

A very light sleeper so god forbid that anyone wakes him up.

To prevent this he has quite the set up in his room with white noise to make him sleep better.

He's also immune to melatonin and those sleepy time teas (idk how they're called the ones w the bear)

Kohga

Sleep talks a lot. Its usually him rambling on about how he despises Link or about his elaborate plans for the week.

Has quite the collection of banana plushies, including a Yellow Junie squishmallow.

Tosses and turns a lot too and most of the time ends up sleeping on the floor because he falls off the bed and doesn't even care.

Sooga

Quite the heavy sleeper as well. He has a very strict sleep schedule and tries to get his 8 hours of sleep as often as possible.

When sleeping, he doesn't move at all he just sleeps in a single position.

Astor

Survives on red bull and spite so his sleep is rather minimal.

Slip in some melatonin gummies to have him turn into a 'honk shoo' type of man. Seriously once he falls asleep he passes out and wakes up 3-4 business days later.

[unironicallycringe]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

OH NO!! BADGER, I HAVENT WRITTEN FIVE FICS, WHICH IS EXTREMELY FUNNY TO ME--

Ok ok I am a slowly lumbering giant who only writes longfics and takes enormous hibernation hiatuses

BUT I will simply reply with those two and talk about some fav chapters

The Mask-Maker & Dear Brother

Both of these are so so old in terms of original inception, but fairly young in that I "just" began posting.

For those of you who are new, TMM is a Legend of Zelda fic combining Skyward Sword and Majora's Mask to 1) explore what the Demon Tribes could actually be like and 2) put Ghirahim and Link into A Situation (Ghiralink). It is paused at 20 chapters and has a ways to go, likely divided into two parts. Meanwhile, DearB is an Elder Scrolls Oblivion Dark Brotherhood prequel about the Silencer before the player character arrives (Lucien/OC). It explores the inner workings of the Brotherhood itself from the viewpoint of one of their leaders. This one is shaping up to be around 24 chapters based on where my arc's trajectory is going.

My favorite chapter of TMM is "10: Employee of the Year" - I really liked writing the clumsy foundation of how and why their relationship forms, and I'm proud of how it came out. DearB is too young to have a solid fav chapter yet but right now it's "3: Hypnotic Shades of Violet" - exploring Zath's difficulty in understanding his own feelings within the framework of a cult has been really interesting to me.

I love them both very much and I'm really proud of the progress I've made in terms of plotting out a long story. It's been excellent practice and a great stress-relief hobby.

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 17- collar, touch aversion, leave me alone

Smiles using all three in the prompt? Rare! Anyways I… I don’t even know how to describe this one BDMSBSKSBMS . SO REMEMBEE THAT DREAM I HAD ABOUT YUGA AND LINEBECK YES I TURNED IT INTO A PROMPT I NEEDED IDEASDBSKSBKSBSAKABK. I need y’all to bear with me here cuz this is nothing but pure chaos. Basically Linebeck meets the villain squad. There’s yuga, Ghirahim, Vaati, zant, Astor, Kogha, and Linebeck in this fic and… it’s crazy. Genuinely can’t tell if it’s actually cringey or if I’m just mean to myself 💀💀💀 so uh, yeah, it’s a long one and ends weirdly but whatevs

Warnings: kidnapping, possessive attitude, nonconsensual touching (it’s nothing serious Ghirahim and Yuga are just a little creepy) and yeah

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

It had been a normal day for Linebeck. He woke up, pissed off Leon, pissed off everyone else, and took a walk through the woods while they all calmed down. He kept close to camp so that if something happened, Linebeck would be close enough to them. But apparently it didn’t matter, because in the end, he was grabbed and pulled into a portal, held against his will by some… colorful characters.

Linebeck paced his cage when they left him alone, occasionally leaning up against the bars hopelessly. There was no way he was getting out of this, and there was no way that the others would even know where to find him. The people holding him hostage were weird, but they were scary. Having sharp teeth, powerful magic, and all were freakishly tall (except for two). One was a creature that he’d never seen before, having round yellow eyes, fair blue skin, and markings along his nose. Linebeck was a coward at heart, and these people did not want to make him feel brave.

Linebeck tugged at the collar that they put on him. It was to “block his ability to use magic”, but it was nothing more than a nuisance to Linebeck since he didn’t have any magic. It rubbed painfully against his neck and it occasionally felt like he was being choked. Linebeck groaned and fiddled with the collar more until the men who abducted him barged into the room, arguing about something.

“How could you screw up that bad?” A taller man with white hair that covered one eye yelled. “Open a portal to the castle, that's all you had to do!”

“Portals are a finicky magic! Only a powerful magician can safely open up a portal without any issues!” A smaller purple man who also had hair covering one eye yelled back.

“Oh! Well it seems like you’re not a very powerful magician then, Vaati!”

“Shut up Ghirahim! You know nothing about magic!”

“Can you two stop it with the yelling.” A pale man with a hood over his eyes came in, holding a strange contraption in his hand. “My head hurts.”

“Well Vaati screwed up my plan!” The one Linebeck assumed was Ghirahim practically screamed. The taller creature with the beady yellow eyes came by.

“I don’t understand why you didn’t come to me for help, I open up portals all the time!”

“You were gone with Yuga, Zant! And I needed this mission done now!”

“What is Loria’s name were you trying to do?” A tall man with thick, curly red hair leaned against the bars, and a little too close to Linebeck for comfort.

“I needed Vaati to open up a portal so we could kidnap the King! He was left unsupervised and it would’ve been a perfect opportunity! Just… who even is that?” Ghirahim pointed at Linebeck, which caused the others to look at him. Linebeck stood up straight and backed away from the bars, but Ghirahim got closer. “Who are you?”

Linebeck chuckled nervously and pressed his back against the back wall of his cage, as far away from them as possible. Ghirahim scoffed and snapped his fingers, vanishing in a cloud of diamonds. Linebeck yelped when he suddenly appeared inches from his face. He grabbed his shirt and pinned him against the wall, looking down at him with murder in his eyes. Linebeck felt like he was gonna pass out right then and there, but he swallowed his nerves down and tried to glare back at him.

“I said, who are you?” Ghirahim repeated, fury in his voice.

“A—uh— I—I’m uh…” Linebeck stuttered, unable to say his own name. Ghirahim groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Well he’s completely useless to us,” Ghirahim snapped his fingers and a dagger appeared in his hand. “Might as well get rid of him.”

“W-wait! Wait!” Linebeck tried to stop him, but sudden movement at his side caused him to scream and jerk away from it. Yuga appeared and held Ghirahim’s hand that had the dagger in it.

“Let’s not be too hasty, there’s no reason to kill him.”

Ghirahim rolled his eyes at him. “Let me guess, he’s too beautiful to die?”

“Yes!” Yuga dragged Linebeck away from Ghirahim, and he found himself pressed up against Yuga’s chest. “I mean look at him, beauty like this must be preserved.” His hand gently stroked against Linebeck’s cheek which made him physically recoil.

“Don’t touch me!” Linebeck swatted his hand at Yuga, but it was grabbed effortlessly by the large man.

“So feisty too, I’d like to keep him for my collection.”

“Yuga no. You let that one doctor live, and look where that got us!”

“Oh come on! I won’t let him walk around freely,” Yuga’s fingers dug possessively into Linebeck’s shoulder causing him to squirm. “I’ll just turn him into a painting and keep him in my hall, that’s all!”

Linebeck’s heart stopped. “Wh— turn me into a painting?”

“Well of course. Only the most beautiful and powerful ones are hung up on my wall. You should consider yourself lucky,” Yuga got close to his face and Linebeck leaned back.

“Kinda hard to consider myself lucky when I’ll have to look at your ugly face for the rest of my life!”

Yuga gasped and the others snorted in response.

“Oh I think I like him actually,” the hooded man said with a chuckle.

“Oh you— shut up, Astor!” Yuga yelled, his grip on Linebeck tightening in rage. “That was a petty insult, it sure does dampen your natural beauty.”

“Yeah well at least I have natural beauty unlike you, who needs all that crap all over your face just to be bearable to look at!”

Yuga gasped more loudly and he let go of Linebeck. Ghirahim started laughing like a maniac and he grabbed onto Linebeck.

“I have to agree with Astor, I think I like him as well.”

Linebeck squirmed in his hold, trying to get away. “Yeah well the feeling’s not mutual. Get off of me!”

Ghirahim’s grip tightened around him, and Linebeck groaned. He couldn’t move.

“Well we don’t need him alive so just kill him now Ghirahim,” Yuga grumbled, suddenly turning into a painting and slipping through the bars. Linebeck watched in awe as he popped out of the wall, returning to his true self. Yuga smirked at his reaction. “Still think that I’m nothing to look at?”

“Tch, you still look like a moblin’s rear end to me.”

Yuga glared daggers into Linebeck while the others laughed hysterically.

“Oh I definitely like you,” Ghirahim wheezed, patting him on the shoulder. “Sorry Yuga but I don’t want to kill him anymore, he… amuses me.”

Yuga grumbled as Ghirahim finally let go of Linebeck and left the cell.

“Uh… w-what are you guys going to do to me?” He couldn’t help but ask even though he knew that any answer would be a bad answer.

“Don’t know yet, you weren’t our original target,” Ghirahim answered, looking upset again. Vaati leaned against the bars next to Linebeck.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head over the specifics of your fate, we’ll take care of that for you,” he said.

“Yeah that’s kind of why this pretty little head of mine is worrying,” Linebeck rebutted. “Can you at least take off this collar? I don’t have any magic so it’s completely useless.”

“We’re not taking any chances with you,” Astor said in a low voice.

“Besides, if you ever escape, then people will know that you belong to us,” Vaati said with a grin.

Linebeck gulped and the group left the room, leaving him alone once again. He let out a big sigh and sunk to the floor, hoping that they wouldn’t return any time soon. Though he wanted to escape, the memory of Ghirahim and Yuga holding onto him so strongly made his skin crawl. Even if he could escape, he was not strong enough to fight against them. Ghirahim’s teleportation, Yuga’s weird painting magic, he didn’t even want to think about what the others were able to do. Not to mention, they all seemed so… sadistic. And that was what scared Linebeck the most.

Linebeck rested his head against hands, suddenly feeling very exhausted. He prayed that by some miracle, the others would find him. He just didn’t know how.

~~~~~~~~~

Linebeck jolted awake at the sound of crashing and yelling. He looked over at the door beyond his cage, his heart beating a mile a minute. The yelling continued, sounding like it was getting louder. Linebeck stood up and backed up in a corner, watching the door with dread.

“Just get what they stole from me, alright?” He heard someone shout from the other side. “We’ll be in and out before they even know we’re here!”

“Sure thing.”

There was inaudible grumbling and shifting around, with one proud cheer after a while of shuffling. Eventually the noises were right outside the door, and Linebeck held his breath. A regular looking Hylian in a red jumpsuit peaked his head into the room, and he locked eyes with Linebeck.

“Uh, Kogha?” The Hylian yelled out.

“What?” A gruff sounding man yelled back.

“There’s a guy here.”

“Huh? What?”

Another Hylian poked his head through, and then a tall, heavy man with a weird eye mask appeared. Linebeck pressed himself further into the corner, glaring at the three.

“Listen, unless you’re here to break me out, leave me alone!” He shouted with as much strength as he could.

The men all glanced at each others confused.

“Are you a hostage?” The first Hylian asked.

“I’m in a cage, of course I’m a hostage!”

The tallest one who Linebeck assumed was Kogha entered the room arrogantly.

“Well it’s your lucky day, sir. We’re gonna break you out.”

Linebeck raised an eyebrow. “And why should I trust you?”

Kogha leaned against the bars, gesturing to the whole room. “You know the guys that I assumed abducted you?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Yes, well, we don’t get along. One of them tried to sacrifice me to his malice god. Can you believe that? Sacrifice me?”

“I don’t care.”

“Yeah well, the yiga clan don’t take kindly to sacrificing me. So anytime we can piss them off or inconvenience them, I’ll take it.”

Linebeck narrowed his eyes. “Yiga clan? You wouldn’t happen to be connected to that Yuga guy would you?”

Kogha scoffed. “Just because our names are similar doesn’t mean that we’re connected.”

Linebeck narrowed his eyes even more, and Kogha shrugged.

“Oh whatever, boys, come tear down this door for me.”

Linebeck gasped as the two Hylians grabbed the cage door and pried it open with their weapons. Kogha gestured for Linebeck to join them.

“C’mon, let’s get you home.”

Linebeck looked down. “I don’t think you can get me home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…. I… I’m not from here—“

There was a loud banging sound, and the Hylians snapped their heads at something behind him.

“Ok well you can explain later, now come on,” Kogha sputtered, trying to grab Linebeck.

“Hey, don’t touch me! I still don’t know if I trust you or not—“

A loud shout came from beyond the door. “Kogha we need to leave now!” The second Hylian yelled, and Kogha grabbed Linebeck and threw him over his shoulder.

“Ah— HEY!” Linebeck yelled, but he was carried away as the three ran for it. Linebeck watched behind the three, seeing Astor and Zant appear. “Ah! Kogha!” Linebeck yelled as they noticed the group running away. Kogha slightly turned around and groaned.

“Ugh! Not that guy!” Kogha set down Linebeck while running, causing him to nearly fall over. “Make sure he gets out safely.”

“Wait, what are you doing, Kogha?” the first hylian asked.

“Buyin’ you some time,” Kogha said with a grin in his voice. Astor held up the strange contraption in his hand, and a red substance poured out of it, heading straight to the group. Linebeck gasped when it came close, but it was stopped by a strange blue shield put up by Kogha. Someone grabbed Linebeck’s hand and he was pulled along, which he quickly tried to pull away.

“I can run on my own! Let go!” He shouted, and the hylian holding his hand grumbled, letting go. The three ran for a long while after they made it outside, and when they were far enough, they all collapsed. Linebeck leaned against a tree and sighed with relief. Well at least actual escape wasn’t an issue anymore... Except this stupid collar was still on him.

“Kogha…” One of the hylians muttered, staring at the building they just escaped from.

“Did he make it out?” The other one asked, and they both watched intently. But there was nothing.

“I knew we shouldn’t have left him alone! They might’ve gotten to him this time!” The first Hylian said frantically, “they probably captured him, and now he’s gonna die! And the yiga clan will be without their leader!”

Linebeck felt guilt creep up on him. It didn’t matter what he thought about the men that saved him, they saved him. And Kogha… he must’ve given up everything just for them… just for him…

“Oh goddesses,” he mumbled, “he saved my life, and I didn’t even get to say thank you… heck I didn’t even show that I was grateful…. Goddesses… he didn’t deserve this.”

“Aw, how nice of you to care about me.”

Linebeck flinched at the sudden presence of another person next to him, and he nearly tripped into the other Hylians who stared at Kogha in awe.

“Kogha!”

“You’re ok!”

Kogha puffed out his chest and pointed at them dramatically. “Of course I’m alright! I may not be able to beat those lunatics down there, but I sure as heck can escape them!”

The Hylians both gave relieved sighs while Linebeck caught his breath. If one more person snuck up on him like that one more time…

“Oh come on now,” Kogha leaned towards Linebeck, “where’s that gratitude you wanted to show me?”

Linebeck groaned and stood up straight. “Thanks or… whatever,” he mumbled.

“Well, that was better than nothing I suppose,” Kogha scoffed, and the Hylians stood beside Kogha who had his finger resting on the chin of his mask. “I suppose I’m not done rescuing you yet, where’s your home? I can take you there.”

“Uh–” Linebeck looked down, gnawing his lower lip. There was no way that Kogha was going to get him out of here, he doubted he was in the same era that he was in before. Kogha tilted his head at him when he didn’t say anything.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

Linebeck glared at him. “No. I just… I don’t think you can get me home. Unless you can open up a portal across eras–”

“Wait– you’re from a different era?” One of the Hylians stepped up, looking surprised. Linebeck sighed.

“Yes, I am, and I need to get back to where I was,” though Linebeck could return to his beloved ship, he didn’t want to. He couldn’t abandon his friends, and he couldn’t abandon Link. Kogha let out a laugh and relaxed his posture.

“Hey buddy, I can open up a portal across eras,” Kogha wrapped his arm around Linebeck, making him squirm. “Though it’s not easy to do. I’ve been alive for so long that I was able to learn how to do it but Sheikah magic can’t normally do portals, and it’s just super hard to do in general–”

“Well for it being hard to do, it sure does happen a lot!” Linebeck yelled, and Kogha backed up with his hands up defensively.

“Calm down, let me just see where you once were and I can send you back.” Kogha leaned forward and stared at Linebeck for much longer than he’d like. Finally, Kogha hummed and stepped back. “I see,” he said softly, amused.

“What?”

“Once I open up the portal I want you to waste no time getting in, alright? I can’t keep it open for a long time.”

“Wait, you know where to take me? How?”

“Oh, uh, Sheikah magic, now get ready!” Kogha lightly shoved Linebeck, then got low, swinging his arms in a weird pattern, and right behind Linebeck, a portal opened up.

“Woah!” He stared at the red portal in front of him, trying to see if he could see the other side.

“Linebeck!”

Linebeck swung around at Kogha, surprised at how he knew his name, and he saw the Hylians gather around their leader.

“Tell Ammon I said hi, alright?” Kogha said in a strained voice, and Linebeck blinked. Did he… know Ammon? Kogha gestured to Linebeck with his head and the Hylians stepped forward, pushing Linebeck into the portal.

“W-wait! The collar–” was all Linebeck was able to say before he was pushed into the portal, and he landed on his back harshly in tall grass. He laid there for a moment, thinking about everything that happened to him when he heard yelling from far away.

“Linebeck! Come on, I’m sorry I yelled at you!” He heard Ammon shout.

“I swear if that man is in danger and we have to save him I will throw him into the lake!” He heard Leon grumble, and Linebeck couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Classic Leon.

“Hey, we’re supposed to be looking for him to make sure he’s alright, not threatening him,” Rusl spoke up, and Linebeck heard Leon groan. He would’ve called for them, but after being pushed into that portal, he was feeling pretty dizzy, and his ribs hurt from falling onto the ground. The three were silent for a while, until Linebeck heard their footsteps right next to him, and Leon accidentally kicked his head as he tripped over him.

“OW!” Linebeck sat up and rubbed his temple painfully as Leon laid sprawled out on the ground. “Watch where you’re going, Leon!”

Leon scrambled to his feet and glared at Linebeck. “You– You watch where you’re laying!” He retorted and Linebeck heard the other two groan.

“Leon for Din’s sake,” Ammon muttered, and he kneeled down next to Linebeck. “Are you alright? We got pretty worried about you.”

“Yeah, what’s that on your neck?” Rusl pointed at the collar that stayed around Linebeck’s neck.

“Oh, you know, I got abducted by a bunch of weirdos and they put this stupid collar on me so I wouldn’t use magic or whatever,” Linebeck said nonchalantly. The others gasped.

“You got kidnapped?”

“Who took you?”

“Are they still near?”

Linebeck shook his head. “No, they were from a different era. I’m lucky this weird red guy was able to open up a portal for me to return.”

“Goddesses Linebeck,” Leon groaned, “how do you always get yourself into these situations?”

“I don’t know but I do,” Linebeck looked over at Ammon and pursed his lips. “Um, the red guy…. His name was Kogha and he told me to tell you hi, for some reason.”

Ammon’s eyes widened in surprise. “K-Kogha? You saw him? I–” He looked down, a smile teasing the corners of his mouth, but it quickly went away. “Were you in my era?”

“I don’t know, do you normally deal with the weirdos called Yuga, Ghirahim, Astor, Zant, Vaati–”

“Astor?”

“Zant?”

“Vaati…”

Linebeck stared at the others in surprise. So they all knew them? Or at least some of them. Ammon looked confused, Rusl looked shocked, while Leon looked furious.

“Well, seems like I have a lot to tell you guys,” Linebeck said with an awkward chuckle. He tugged at the collar and stood up. “You think you could get this stupid thing off of me while I tell you the details?”

The three of them snapped out of their reactions and nodded, standing up as well.

“Don’t worry Linebeck,” Rusl started, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, “I have the right tools to get that off of you.”

“But I am very curious about your encounter with Kogha and Astor. You know Astor died in the calamity a long time ago.”

Linebeck shrugged. “Ok, well I did see him and all the others together. But uh, I wouldn’t recommend meeting them.” The others chuckled, and they all escorted the sailor back to camp.

[ladye-zelda]

Ooh, how about Legend of Zelda Princess and the Pauper AU, and/or Sunflowers?

-Sky Floor

Hehehe >:3

Princess and the Pauper AU (super excited about this one tbh)

Basically the Barbie movie in Legend of Zelda context. Princess Annaliese is BotW Zelda, Erika is Malon, Julian is BotW Link and King Dominic is OoT Link. Then Preminger is Ghirahim and his two henchmen are two of the bosses in Skyward Sword, but all I have in this doc is the first "chapter" which is basically part of the opening number XD

“Oh, we’re late, late, late!” Chancellor Cole said. “We’ve got twenty maximum— twenty-two minutes, for your royal fitting then it’s move, move, move, to your speech at the historical society! After that we have to rush and I mean rush! To the Horticultural Society Tea, and then there’s your math lessons, your geography lessons, your science lessons. . .” Zelda drowned out the rest of the chancellor’s ramblings as she focused on the bouquet in her hands. It was going to be fine, she told herself. It was all going to be fine. She looked up at the wall-length mirror she stood in front of. Seamstresses gathered around the hem of her dress, finalizing the last of the stitching. The dress was everything that she had imagined in a wedding dress: white with pink and gold accents. She should have been feeling happy, or excited. What else should she be feeling on the days leading up to her marriage? But things weren’t like what she imagined they would be. She lowered the bouquet, handing it to one of the waiting maids. The seamstresses were just about done when Zelda lifted up her skirts and walked over to the balcony. She took in a deep breath of the fresh crispness of the air. The only feeling of freedom that she is close to getting these days. As her wedding was drawing closer and closer, it seems the less and less she got. She chuckled slightly to herself. How selfish she was. She was a princess, destined to fulfill the responsibilities no one wants. It was her duty to be in certain places when asked, to smile and never complain, to know everything and be there for everyone. If not her, then who? Princess Zelda reached the edge of the balcony, looking down into the castle courtyard. Guards patrolled the labyrinth hedges, taking their duties too seriously. She smiled, recognizing one guard dressed in a different uniform. He always patrolled the side of the castle where Princess Zelda lived, if he was not close by attending to his bodyguard duties. Link passed into view, looking as stoic as ever. He noticed from the corner of his eye the princess’s watchful gaze, then suddenly straightened his posture, snapping his hands behind his back. Very exaggerated, he walked without bending his knees, scrunching his face in mock seriousness. Zelda burst out laughing. It seemed like magic, how he always seemed to know how the princess was feeling all of the time. It was one of the characteristics she loved about him. “Having fun, are we?” asked a voice. Zelda snapped her attention behind her. The queen stood there, her expression ladened with age and worry. Her mouth turned up into a tired smile, seeing Zelda’s rosy cheeks fading to normal. “I know how you feel about your bodyguard, but it is vital that you marry King Link. It’s the only way to take care of our people.” “I know, it’s my duty,” Zelda sighed. It felt uncomfortable, how the name of her fiance carried the same name as the man she loves, despite being two completely separate people. It made her feel even more like a traitor, despite her Link knowing the circumstance. “Oh, look!” the queen said, turning back towards Zelda’s room. “Another engagement gift has arrived!”

Sunflowers

It was tradition that after a ceremony was completed, the royal family would be paraded around Castle Town. This time it was just Zelda, atop of her white steed as if she was some prize that all of Hyrule needed to see. (Well, she wasn’t completely alone; she had the company of a dozen or so guards separating her and the crowd of onlookers, plus the champions, but they hardly counted.) Hylians and visiting races looked up at the princess with wide, disbelieving eyes, as if this was the one destined to save all of Hyrule. This pathetic excuse for a princess. If there were any admiration in their eyes, it would be towards him. The knight who carried the sword of destiny upon his back. She tried to ignore him, but ever since they left the castle grounds he had kept his eyes on her. Never leaving. Never faltering. Not even when she had twisted back and glared at him did he ever release his gaze. He never even spared her the humiliation when he didn’t turn away to pretend he wasn’t looking. It was dreadful. The captain of her entourage of guards looked back, then raised a fist to stop. Zelda pulled the reins on Storm, to which he gave an unpleasant nicker. What’s the meaning of this? Zelda thought. She turned back, only to see the champions clustered around something. Someone? From between the slim forms of Mipha and Urbosa, Zelda could see Link. He was balancing on his toes, sitting on his ankles, face-to-face with a young girl. The young girl was squealing, grinning up at each of the five champions. She handed Link a bundle of something, then whispered in his ear. He nodded, before standing up and patting the young girl on the head. She caught the murmured “awe”s among the parents, seeing the girl in such a smile that if it were possible she might possibly explode. The champions resumed their positions, each murmuring about what happened. Revali was no doubt complaining, but Mipha was giggling; a blush fading from her pale face. Urbosa and Daruk were smiling as well, talking to each other. Link was as silent as ever, walking alone in front of the four champions. But in his hands was something odd. Six sunflowers tied together with a blue ribbon. Zelda shouldn’t be surprised. Sunflowers were common among Hyrule Field. So it would be expected that people would pick them. But what struck her as odd was why Link would stop for a child, and then accept such a common gift. Especially now, in the middle of the parade? Upon deeper reflection, she could see why. He’s putting up an act, just like her. Only he was better, gaining favor with the common people. That must be why they love him so much. She flicked Storm’s reins, and the white horse trotted forward, leaving behind the feeling of emptiness starting to develop in her stomach.

[appeypie]

So for like a WEEK I've been trying to come up with a way to enclose my rabid feelings in an ask, but I think I'll just lay it out with no context to wrap it in.

For some reason, your recent side-by-side Ghirahim and Mettaton body type comparison drove me FERAL, specifically how you established that MTT's ass/legs were "more fat than muscle" because yes! Fellow thicc Mettaton truther!! Too often I see him portrayed with skinny little toothpick legs, like 50% of the time, and a lot of those who do portray him with the thigh circumference he deserves give him visible muscle definition, like the legs of a bodybuilder.

I've always imagined him with, yes, quite strong legs, but with that muscle blanketed under a generous amount of subcutaceous fat for an overall smooth, rounded, "soft" appearance. Seeing an artist who shares my taste in fictional video game men (villainous egotistical twinks my beloved) interpret one of my faves in a way I wholeheartedly vibe with is just!! I want to bounce off the walls like a startled bobcat!!!

(btw all of these feelings are non-horny dw, ace speaking. Pure fictional-ass-headcanon-vibeage. I am abnormal about these men but like in the sense of wanting to go on a cute coffee date with them or perhaps marry them)

ANON i love this ask. beautifully put

i personally see MTT as a trans guy who used to take T but no longer does (so his voice is a little deeper than your average Estrogen Producer but he has that fat distribution pattern) plus post top surgery

of course he is a robot so he has the robot equivalent of this. whatever. android top surgery scars forever

i think its fun to explore different transition timelines rather than just the "expected" one of "you take T forever and then get a bunch of surgery and try really hard to 'pass'". and mettaton is perfect for this imo

i will be completely honest and say that i am ace but still very much gayhorny about my favorite fictional men, though it definitely comes from a place of "i think trans men are so fucking cool and i love us" first. plus theyre hot? best of both worlds

besides that, drawing/thinking about differing body types is just fun. i love overthinking shit and unique features can add so much to characters!!

[cicada-wisp]

Hello everyone! I am here to share with you all my most recent hyper-fixation!! Hurray!!

So, I’ve always been a huge fan of role-swaps, and so I came up with an idea for a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time role-swap, and thought I should share it with you all!

So basically, the main idea is that the Sages, along with the Sages elements, swap with each other, along with the races.

So this is what the swaps are:

Forest - Light

Water - Shadow

Fire - Spirit

Zelda - Link

Ghirahim - Fi

Saria - Rauru

Ruto - Impa

Darunia - Nabooru

Kokiri - Hylians

Zora - Sheikah

Gorons - Gerudo

Goddess Harp - Ocarina of Time

Ganon does not change, however. He remains the same.

So this is based on the classic Zelda/Link role-swap, but with enough changes for it to be different.

The plot would follow the same story beats, basically, that being:

Main character saves someone from evil however they die anyway.

Main character gets entrusted with a special item/s which will help with their journey. 

Main character finds someone who is also needed to save the world.

Main character helps a bunch of people, getting more special items that will help them on their journey.

Main character fails at stopping the evil but gets a special weapon after time has passed.

Main character finds a wise person to help them and goes on what is basically a fetch quest.

Main character defeats the big evil with the help of the person from before and the items along the way.

This is the basis of Ocarina of Time but boiled down to the extreme basics. I think.

Here is some information about the new world of Hyrule:

Hyrule is mostly a forest.

The fantasy races (Kokiri, Zora, Gorons) all work together to rule over Hyrule.

The Kokiri are the ‘main rulers’, basically, with the capital being the area which they do not age.

Link is an actual Kokiri, although Zelda isn’t.

The reason why he ages while Zelda’s sealed away for seven years is that he fled the Kokiri capital, away from the anti-aging magic of the Great Deku Tree.

Zelda was left at a Temple (the Temple of Time) when she was just a baby and has lived there her whole life.

She is known to be someone sent by the Goddesses. Due to her strong sacred power.

The Hylians were originally the rulers, but they were thought to be unfit for the role due to them not being ‘one with the Goddesses.’

This is referring to how they weren’t magical enough, basically.

This is what caused the civil war, which happened a much longer time ago than in the official/canon Ocarina of Time.

The sacred stones which Zelda has to collect are:

The Sacred Stone of Light, given to her by the High Priestess of the Church which Zelda was left.

After removing the evil sent by Ganon from her, although not saving her life in the process.

The Sacred Stone of Shadow, given to her by Impa of the Sheikah.

After saving Kakariko village from a Poe tormenting them.

The Sacred Stone of Spirit, given by Nabooru of the Gerudo.

After calming a sandstorm caused by a large bird’s wingbeats.

Link is engaged to Princess Ruto of the Zora.

The story roughly follows the plot of the Ocarina of Time manga, but also the game as well.

Zelda wasn’t told to meet Link, however she was guided by her prophetic dreams.

Zelda is, obviously, the main character and the Heroine of Hyrule.

However, all of this is still in the works. If anyone has any ideas regarding this role-swap, I would love to hear them.

Have an amazing rest of your day, and do not forget to have courage, move with wisdom, and have power as well!

[catreginae]

Things that I don't think get talked about enough about Warriors:

a) he lost his piece of the Triforce twice (once by Cia and once by Ganondorf).

b) speaking of losing to Ganondorf: he gets his ass kicked multiple times. You play as Ganondorf on this map and you encounter Warriors more than once. The first time is kind of early. You can defeat him quickly and he'll flee. He'll appear again near the end of the map when he and Athena (Zelda) launch a counter attack and actually use their pieces of the Triforce to attack the bases they pass on the way to Ganondorf's keep. You have to defeat them both, but if you defeat one and you take too long to defeat the other, the one you defeated pops up with full health again. So yeah, Warriors gets his ass kicked but comes back for more to try and defeat Ganondorf.

c) yes, losing to Ganondorf does mean he gets the full Triforce and he takes control of the castle. On the final map, there's a giant sword in the castle. It's kind of cool. Upon losing the castle, Athena and Warriors regroup in the desert to take down Zant and Ghirahim.

d) there's a desert map and there's some fun little tidbits about the heat here. One - the edges of the screen become blurry unless you stand in one of two oasis keeps that has water in it. Two - there's a line where the character you didn't pick (since you pick to play as Lana or Link) complaining about the heat and losing a little bit of health.

I dunno, I might add more to this.

[bluesdesk]

Hello!! I know I’m really inactive but I've joined the CTCGiftx2024! My giftee, @najikasunart, wrote some prompts that I tried to mix (hopefully into something that makes sense XD), and damn I really loved working on the resulting fic!

I think it might be one of my best fics so far, if not the best! Here it is!

Sky and Wild centric! Hurt/Comfort, nobody dies, there's some blood! And some happy moments at the end, 8008 words :D

You can also read it here, under the cut!

Words (and their consequences)

Sometimes a bad choice of words can cause one to be hurt. Other times, those words might destroy who happened to hear them. The latter is way rarer, but when it happens, it's really difficult to get those words off the mind of a scattered person. The heroes know it well. One time they were talking about magic, at the beginning of their adventure, and Warriors, not paying attention to his words, and still mad at Cia, said that dark magic was the worst and everyone using it should be damned. Twilight took it really badly, and decided he'd keep his wolf form a secret. Four got silent and left the conversation. Legend took a couple of rings off his hand and put them in his bag. Warriors noticed, and gave them his most sincere apologies, but Twilight couldn't get past that and kept the secret until he could, until the damn lizalfos almost killed him.

Of course, the heroes aren't perfect nor do they know everything that might hurt another companion. They try their best to avoid any topic that could be triggering, but battles can be exhaustingly hard, and make the chain forget.

This time, they were fighting against Dink again, that had chosen to shapeshift from lizalfos to Dark Twilight. Days had passed since they left the unknown Hyrule, they had other smaller battles, and traveled through a few portals. Twilight had recovered enough to fight but he surely wasn’t in perfect shape. The monster, now a dark silhouette, had passed days in contact with Twilight, a part of it getting into his system and studying every single inch of him, until Hyrule’s magic was too much for it to handle and it left the body allowing the rancher to heal. Anyway, Dark Link had enough info at that point.

The battle took place in a vast field, no sign of recent civilization, the grass looked wet and a bit slippery. They hadn’t gotten the chance to look around and recognize the era, as they hopped off the portal and found Dink standing there, eyes red, holding what looked like a sword behind his back, and with a horde of blue and red bokoblins behind. Sky felt like something was oddly familiar with that weapon, and realized in shock the Dark was holding Demise’s sword. If Ghirahim was there too, the battle was going to be a bloodbath! With a scream, badly sounding like a “hyaaa”, the Dark unleashed the other monsters, before Sky could say a word. They were from his era. They were in his era.

And so it began, the heroes trying to come up with a plan as fast as they could, Sky instructing them, shouting while fighting, on how to handle those monsters. In the meantime, Time and Twilight were the closest to Dink, as it was mimicking Twilight’s movements, Twilight’s best movements, from when he didn’t even have a scratch. The two heroes had noticed, and chose to defend themselves rather than attack, to at least tire it and distract it from attacking the others, who were fighting the secondary enemies, moving as fast as they could to reduce their number and then help with Dink. Warriors went closer to Sky to confess he somehow knew the demon lord and the imprisoned, yes it wasn’t the right time for that but he felt the need to tell him what he faced must have been at least terrible. Sky had only enough time to reply with “yeah”, and then back to swinging his sword, parrying with his shield, and mostly concentrating on the goal: clear enough monsters to go help Time and Twilight, and maybe face Ghirahim if he was still in there.

He hoped Ghirahim was at least asleep like Fi.

A blue bokoblin targeted him and he dodged the attack, then proceeded to cut through its skin. It attacked again in vain, Sky already knew their tactics. With the last swing of Fi, the bokoblin fell on the ground, screamed, then disappeared, leaving only black blood behind. That wasn’t any news for them, of course, given the fact Dink was right there. Another blue bokoblin, another precise sequence of attacks.

And then another, another…

Until someone screamed. One of them. Warriors was next to the chosen hero and wasn’t hurt, Time and Twilight were still around Dink, Hyrule was running towards a bloody Wind. Wind’s right side was bleeding! Sky rushed there to help, those monsters were from his era, they should have all targeted him, not Wind! He was there quickly enough to stick his sword into the abdomen of a red bokoblin, luckily that was enough to put it down. He proceeded to cover Hyrule as he carried Wind away to get medication.

Less heroes, but less enemies, he thought. Just one, precise stab, and an infected red bokoblin was gone. The others were having a harder time with them, maybe it was Fi’s power to be unbearable for the monsters.

He continued slashing and parrying until he felt like he was going in a loop, something was wrong. Giving a better look at all the area, he noticed the number of monsters had remained exactly the same. They were respawning… Ghirahim could do that, he once spawned them to prevent him from reaching Sun!

Hyrule ran back to the battlefield, Sky signed him to take his place, while he turned around and joined Time and Twilight, informing them they needed to destroy that sword first or all their efforts would be in vain.

Warriors heard that and joined them. Now four heroes were against Dink, Wind was out and the other four were slowly moving behind to be back to back with the first quartet. They’d defend them as they tried to destroy or damage Demise’s sword. As Sky imagined, Fi was fighting her own battle against Ghirahim, both still into their respective weapons, both half asleep, but they were there.

While Time, Twilight and Warriors attacked Dink, Sky was trying so hard to hit the sword and shatter it.

But the Dark was swift. After several times he was losing hope… then saw a feeble blue light coming from the Master Sword. Was Fi helping him somehow? He concentrated. Just one, precise, fast motion. Now!

The Master Sword clashed with its counterpart so hard everyone heard it. The weapon fell from Dink’s hands, the tip into the ground. When he gave Demise the fatal blow, the sword fell in that same way, then disappeared. He thought he had destroyed it along with the demon deity. And this time, it disappeared too. Was it enough? He didn’t know, but took the chance to swing Fi directly at Dink as it was unarmed.

Dink dodged and laughed maniacally, as the sword reappeared right in front of the hero’s eyes.

Sky couldn’t believe it. The following blow sent him out of the battlefield, right where Wind was resting, his back hit a tree and he screamed in pain, both for the impact and for the blood coming from a dangerous scar on his chest. Luckily, he had an enhanced red potion. His condition was so bad, he had that potion that could be used twice, and drinking only half meant his recovery would be full but take one hour at least…

He swallowed it all.

It took him ten minutes to be able to walk again, too long minutes, in which Warriors was hit on the head, lost consciousness, and was rescued by Legend. Yes, Sky should have waited more for the potion to have full effect, but he didn’t care, he had to get back there. He couldn’t make another “brother of the sword”, as Wild liked to address them, get hurt like that! Yes, when he met Legend and Wars on his way back to the field, he had a spare normal red potion he could give the captain. No, he didn’t have another one besides that. He only had a last resort he had never used during this adventure. Only one. Immense power, invincibility, then total exhaustion. He hoped he could avoid using that.

When he got there again, Hyrule scolded him for getting up too soon. He needed to rest, or he wouldn’t heal properly, and anyway he would be vulnerable as he wasn’t at his best! Sky knew he was right, his back was still hurting, but now it didn’t matter, he didn’t have time to listen to him, so he turned away and faced the other heroes and… Dink? Where was it?

The faces of the others turned from confusion to horror when a scream reached their ears and Sky turned around again to see Hyrule with a huge cut right where Twilight got his. The Dark had taken advantage of that short discussion to attack him easily. Sky and Legend shielded him from the other monsters as the traveler healed himself, his magic was just enough to make the wound not fatal, he then fainted, and Legend carried him away, next to Warriors and Wind who were slowly recovering but in no shape to fight. Without the healer, Wind, and Warriors, and everyone else getting tired, the hypothesis of a defeat was getting closer.

Dink reappeared next to Time, who managed to parry without getting hurt. Sky had helped Wild with the bokoblins while Legend was out of the battlefield, then went back to join Twilight and Time as they circled Dink. They were tired but they’re excellent fighters, and with a lot of concentration, Sky managed to make the Dark unbalanced by hitting Demise’s sword other times, and the other two took advantage of that moment to impale it with their swords, causing the dark to scream in a voice that sounded like Twilight’s but distorted and horrific. It laughed maniacally again, and the sword went floating above everyone. It had really woken Ghirahim up. Sky got ready. Everyone looked up for a moment but Twilight took a second too long, he was so tired, almost at his limit. For the lack of dark blood, Dink turned back to its formal lizalfos shape and hit Twilight right on his still healing scar with its heavy tail. The pain and exhaustion were so strong the rancher fainted. Without looking back or stopping at all, Dink had run away and disappeared in the forest around the field.

Legend, Four and Wild noticed the bokoblins weren’t spawning anymore, and went back to reduce their number. Time took Twilight and brought him away, feeling his rage increasing. Of course he would heal quickly this time but damn it, it still hurted. And moreover, they had 4 heroes unable to fight! This was the worst battle ever, and it could go even worse. Wind and Warriors were awake and reassured him they were going to be fine, Wind’s side had a huge scar instead of a deep cut and blood, but his strength was yet to be restored. And Wars had a huge bump on his head, and Hyrule and Twi were k.o.

In the meantime, the moment Sky was sadly waiting for happened. Demise’s sword emanated a disgusting red light, and in no time the heroes were facing the man with a pale skin, a red cape, and a strange hairstyle. Ghirahim’s target was Sky of course, but the chosen hero was ready and blocked all his attacks. He knew him too well to commit any mistake. Time came back, he was furious. Sky looked like he was keeping up well. Like the other time, he could help the others with Din’s fire. Then, everyone would be free and they’d all concentrate on Ghirahim. It could work. Maybe the fire would startle the enemy a bit too.

So Time went for it, a sphere of fire emanated from his sword, magical fire, that destroyed all the smaller enemies without hurting any of the heroes or the nature around. Ghirahim though didn’t even flinch, instead he quickly left Sky alone and targeted Time with his red diamond shaped blades. Time was on his knee, about to stand up after using the spell. Sky was quick enough to notice his enemy was about to change the target and shouted “shield!”. Time took the mirror shield and protected himself from all the blades… except the one stuck just above his knee. He held back a scream of pain and stood up when the magical blade disappeared. Ghirahim laughed and walked closer and with his hands was about to create another set…

When his arms dropped and his expression changed to anger and pain. The Master Sword firmly in his shoulder, Sky holding it tightly with both his hands.

Everyone knew that wasn’t enough but the damage was surely high. Ghirahim lost his temper, leaving Time alone and turning back to Sky with a crazily furious face. “I never imagined you’d become this quick”, he said with his voice sounding way more metallic and serious. “But you know I can do much more than this!”.

Everyone watched as Ghirahim changed shape, color, and nature. Almost everyone, except for Sky and Warriors, had been questioning how a human could appear from a sword, now everyone knew ghirahim’s true form. Legend, Wild, Four and Time walked closer to help Sky, but Ghirahim sent them away with something like an energy wave, as a circular gate made of diamond shapes appeared around him and Sky. Legend and Wild tried to run into it, jump over it, damage it, but nothing worked, it looked like they had an invisible tall wall all around. They realized they could do nothing but watch. Legend went to check on Hyrule and the others, he and Twilight were slowly regaining consciousness. The others looked for any potion, or fairy, or anything that could help Sky after the match in case he got hurt (again) and realized in shock they had no red potions left. Nor stamina. Only some magic ones, Hyrule would most likely use them to heal the others but he still wasn’t ready.

Four’s mind felt so divided and it wouldn’t shut up. His worries, sometimes Green’s, sometimes Red’s, for his friends clashed with Vio’s and Blue’s questions about Ghirahim. Was there a way to defeat it? The sword itself? Or was it going to disappear again and reappear later to doom them all? If it could be destroyed, why hadn’t Sky done it during his adventure?

Wild had some meals left but nothing with enough healing qualities, he surely couldn’t give him a ton of like… apples, to reach the properties of a potion. He was getting terrified. Ghirahim was no other than a demon god’s servant, assistant, and weapon. Ghirahim’s master was the source of all evil. And Sky was already tired and hurt, and he had no potions and nobody could help. If he allowed himself to loosen the guard for a millisecond, Ghirahim would kill him with nobody able to stop it! Were the heroes going to lose a member for real this time? Was he about to lose a brother of the sword again? He needed to stay calm and avoid acting like days ago, he had promised Four he wouldn’t lose control again.

And Sky and Ghirahim were fighting. Sky's movements were precise, but certainly not his best. Maybe he was just so tired. After long minutes of swords clashing Sky felt the exhaustion and the pain increasing rapidly, Ghirahim laughing, that disgusting noise making the situation even harder and more hateful and he damn knew he wouldn’t win like that, he would collapse. Why did he feel pain again? Did he get new injuries? He quickly found himself unable to do anything useful, he was just defending himself. He couldn’t move enough to attack. He was getting slow. The others outside the gate were watching the show breathlessly.

Sky’s last resort was there, the white colored potion. He hesitated a bit, while dodging a set of diamond blades. He had to drink it. He’d destroy Ghirahim, and get his damn rest. When he got the potion, Luv and Bertie told him to be extremely cautious and only use it when he had no other option. He’d be too exhausted to fight at all after the three minutes of invincibility, he had to be sure to defeat the enemy in that short time.

He couldn’t wait anymore.

He gulped it all in one sip, and in no time felt his energy coming back, his strength increasing, his skin getting thicker. A diamond blade was thrown at him, it met his arm, stopped and fell, like it had impacted on a wall. No scratches, no pain. Sky felt like a superhero. Three minutes were enough. He charged at Ghirahim, Fi was pointed towards the enemy’s huge diamond on his bust. This time, it was Ghirahim trying to defend himself how he could. Could a sword spirit feel fear? Sky didn’t know. Three minutes.

The others were all watching, Time could almost see himself wearing the Fierce Deity mask and fighting Majora in Sky and Ghirahim. They were all surprised and even Wind got closer to the gate to watch.

Finally, they heard a scream, and glass shattering. They all stood up as the gate disappeared, and looked at Sky, the most furious he could be, standing still with the Master Sword in hand. At his feet was Ghirahim, with his diamond broken. Sky was taking deep breaths that slowly turned into panting, almost wheezing, and then a smirk. He had really done it! He couldn’t believe in himself, he had destroyed it!

The three minutes were ending. The others didn’t know anything about the potion nor the side effects.

In no time Sky felt like he had been struck by lightning, his movements got so slow and then he couldn’t move, he was just… standing there, unable to do anything other than breathing. His right arm, with Fi, was slightly shaking. He realized he couldn’t control his body.

His relief and satisfaction instantly turned into terror. What was happening to him?

Like his fight with Demise, his enemy had gotten a fatal wound. Right in the chest. But somehow, for he didn't know what force, the enemy still had the strength to pronounce a last sentence.

Ghirahim lifted his head, and a forced laugh came out of his mouth. Sky wanted to stop him, give him another final blow, end him once and for all. But he couldn't move. Even his voice felt stuck there, and now his hand was visibly shaking and he still couldn't do anything about it!

And Ghirahim started talking, Sky couldn’t concentrate.

Was he stuck there? Was he going to cast another curse? Was Sky going to die right then because of all the potions he took in a relatively too short time?

Wild appeared in front of Sky, furious, with the Master Sword in hand, that he quickly pressed into Ghirahim’s already broken diamond with all his force, enough to make Fi stick in the ground beneath him. Ghirahim's sentence ended with a choked wheeze, in the middle of a curse he was about to cast but then lost all its value. In no time, only a broken and powerless sword was left, that Wild put into his slate for later.

Wild must have taken Fi from Sky's hand, though the chosen hero hadn't noticed, or felt, anything.

Only that his head was spinning and the pain from before he took the guardian potion had come back stronger and he felt like falling but his knees didn’t bend at all.

Wild quickly and quite scarily turned his face to Sky. Oh Hylia he was so angry. He looked so done.

“Why didn't you finish it?”

He raised his voice.

“SKY. WHY didn't you finish it??”

Sky was really trying to answer. His voice came out so low it looked like he was whispering.

“I…”

The world got blurry. Everything had happened in like 2 minutes. From when Sky stopped moving to when Wild talked. Was he slowly losing consciousness, was he slowly fainting? Sky felt like he was going to fall any second now, he just wanted to rest, to move, to scream. But Wild didn't seem to understand, maybe from the outside Sky looked better than how he really felt. Wild spoke again.

“You what?? It could have cursed us! Or killed you!”

And yes Sky now really felt like he was a failure, if he and Ghirahim were alone that monster would have cursed everyone and then killed him with the remaining strength! Sky knew it! A failure! And he needed to scream and the world was spinning and his ears were ringing so loud, he was about to faint and Wild was right there in front of him literally showing him how easy was his one job he didn’t do!

“YOU DESTROY THINGS NOT ME!”

was the only thing coming out of Sky's mouth, sounding so broken, and so loud.

“AT LEAST IT'S A THING! YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!” Shouted Wild. He had snapped again.

And after that, Sky finally fell. Heavily on the ground, pale.

Four reached Wild, his eyes so blue, and looked him right in the eyes, getting mad at him for losing his temper again. Wild came back to senses, Fi still in his hand. He left her on the ground and quickly kneeled down to help Sky, rambling, a sequence of “Oh Hylia” and “I’m sorry” escaping from his mouth. How hadn’t he noticed anything? Sky had been right in front of him, surely already pale and dizzy and unable to move, and he hadn't noticed anything! He let his anger towards Dink, Ghirahim, his own failure and fear to lose another one, and who knows what more, win. And of course he wasn't angry at Sky at all, he was extremely worried he could get killed or cursed by his enemy in its last moments that he didn't really look at him and notice Ghirahim wasn't the main problem there. The same had happened with Twilight. Four had helped him again. This time, though, Wild had snapped back to his senses much faster. He could help.

Sky's heart was beating… too slow. His breath wasn’t normal. Something was so wrong there, pure exhaustion couldn’t make one so messed up. He alerted the others and Legend quickly ran to Hyrule.

In the meantime Wild tried to wake Sky up, but nothing worked, and he started crying. The downfall duo came back and the healer examined Sky. His wound from Dink had closed in a too forced way, too soon and thus too badly. His back looked bruised and hurt, like if a vertebra or 2 were in the wrong position and pressing against his skin. He was full of fresh smaller cuts, almost the same one Time had gotten from the diamond blade. But the main problem there was inside. A cocktail of potions, as Hyrule defined it, taken in a too close time and all super powerful. They had acted like poison together, the guardian potion made the process slower until the magic effect lasted, and then it quickly got him, because that clear potion itself left the hero without any strength to resist. Sky had been poisoned by the potion he had taken, and he had taken them to get back to fight Dink and Ghirahim, to save his companions, to prevent them from getting hurt. Did he feel like everything was his own responsibility?

Hyrule used his spell, luckily none of Sky’s injuries were infected, but he had to work hard to fix what the potions had done, and he wouldn’t wake up for hours until he regained some strength. If only he had rested when he got hurt the first time he wouldn’t have been in that situation.

____________________________

Sometimes a bad choice of words can cause one to be hurt. Other times, those words might destroy who happened to hear them. The latter is way rarer, but when it happens, it's really difficult to get those words off the mind of a scattered person. That had just happened

____________________________

Sky found himself in a void area. He was floating. Yeah, that looked pretty much like his prophetic dreams, but il felt vivid. A light lit up and Wild was talking in the distance, he couldn’t hear him. He needed to reach him, but he found himself unable to move, like before. He was floating there, just watching.

The void turned into a beach and a kid, probably 12 years old, in a light blue shirt and curly blonde hair approached him. His rolled sleeves showed arms full of scars, he was crying. He looked at Sky and seemed to have found a little relief. “Please stranger! My sister has been kidnapped, I must save her but it’s hard! Please help me!”. Sky wanted to help, that was Wind, during his first adventure. The kid looked so scared. But Sky couldn’t move. After he didn’t know how long, the little Wind went away, disappointed.

He had failed him.

And then he heard a small voice calling him. Another kid showed up, he was younger, 10 years old at best. He had freckles and curly brown hair. “Sir… I got lost, I’m scared, I don’t know how to go back home and there are monsters all around. Please help me!”. The black void was now Hyrule’s land, and the hero was just a small unarmed kid. Sky really needed to do something! But he couldn’t! And little Hyrule left with nothing but sadness on his face, into a too dangerous, desolate land. Sky still didn’t know how he survived.

He had failed him.

And then the land shifted into a field, and a forest in the distance. Another little kid showed up, blonde hair, long ears, and already a sword and a wooden shield in hand. He was on the verge of tears. When he noticed Sky he too felt relieved and ran into him. He was asking for affection, he had just lost his father and left his siblings in the forest, and his sister Saria made him understand he wouldn’t come back. He asked for directions, for a hug, for company. And Sky didn’t answer. The kid ran away, sobbing. “This is unfair! I just want to go back home!” Was the last thing he said before he and his land disappeared into the void.

Kids. They were just kids. He wanted to cry but he was stuck there and couldn’t even do that, that feeling was the worst he had ever had. Wild reappeared in sight and Sky regained his speech, like if Wild was controlling his abilities. Wild came closer, and said he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was only showing him the truth: he couldn’t do enough, he was too slow, back then with Demise and recently with Ghirahim, he had let the demon curse everyone and the repercussions had echoed in all the eras, forcing teens and kids to endure endless suffering. Then, he disappeared again, leaving him floating there.

And then other kids and teens appeared, he tried to interact with them, to talk, but they couldn’t listen. They asked him for help, he answered, they either couldn’t hear him or were disappointed at his answers. And they were all his current companions, reversed to their age on their first adventure. Wind, Hyrule, Time, Legend and Four were so damn young. And Wild appeared and introduced them as they walked.

He had never had such long dreams of that kind. But that oniric Wild, he was right. Sky had failed them all and wasn’t worthy of being with them. They were all in danger with him around, he’d slow them down and they’d end up getting cursed or killed because of him! He wasn’t meant to hang out with those real heroes, he couldn’t even kill his own enemy! He needed to go away before they found out about the curse, or they would never forgive him. Yes they’d be questioning his absence for some time, but then they’d realize they’d be faster and generally better without him getting in the way.

After some time, probably hours, Wild reappeared in front of him. This time, he could not only see and hear him, but also feel his presence, he looked so real. His hands were covered in flames, and he was slowly going closer. Sky quickly found himself on the floor, able to move his arms and hands again. He mumbled some incomprehensible sounds and tried to defend himself as the oniric Wild hovered his flaming hands around his face and, as soon as they made contact with his cheeks, he screamed.

____________________________

That woke him up. He was terrified. He was sweating, he was panting, he was panicking, he was…

in a bedroll and Wild, the real Wild, was in front of him, cupping his face with warm, absolutely not burning hands. He had cooked something, since there was an amazing smell of food. In fact, he noticed a steaming cup of pumpkin soup laying right next to Wild. Sky’s breath was going back to normal as Wild guided him in inhaling and exhaling, and the others all stood up and came closer to see him finally getting up after…

“You’ve been knocked out for 3 days” Hyrule said, getting closer and kneeling down to check on him.

Sky looked around while Hyrule checked his wound. They weren’t in that field but somewhere else entirely.

“We’re in a new era, still unknown to us. We’ve traveled through a portal shortly after the last battle”.

Sky realized the others had carried him around, defending him, wasting their potential for him, while he was totally useless. On the other side of the bedroll, Wild was patiently waiting for Hyrule to finish, with the soup now in his hands. He looked like he had understood Sky’s intentions, and told him everything will be alright, no need to worry. Hyrule, instead, chose to be more direct, telling him he should have taken one potion and then rested like everyone else did, instead of taking not one, but two enhanced potions together and then rushing into battle when his body wasn’t ready and then taking another absolutely not healing potion that erased his already lacking strength and had side effects his body still couldn’t bear. He concluded by saying the situation was worse than he imagined, if it took not hours but 3 days to heal. He was fine now though. He just needed to stay away from danger and potions for a few days to heal completely. Wild gave Sky his soup and Sky stared deeply at it, telling Hyrule “you will never see me do that again”.

Hyrule looked satisfied, smiled at him, patted his right shoulder, and walked away to inform the others about the situation. Wild had to go too, but after standing up he stared, worried, at Sky eating his soup. Something about what he said was extremely strange, if it was any other hero saying that, Wild would have thought the boy had secretly planned to do something extreme. But Sky would never do that, he was always so sunny, bringing happiness… unless he was in a fight with his worst enemy that nearly killed him and then someone even told him he was useless. Damn. Sky looked fine though, enjoying his soup. Maybe it was just him worrying too much. He walked towards the others, who were sitting on some logs and bedrolls around a fire with a pot on, and asked if anyone wanted more soup.

____________________________

During that day, Sky had been acting quite normally, only a bit thoughtful, less smiley. He and the others had a training session, walked around in search of a town, found a spring of fresh water and filled all their water bottles, finally found a small village and bought arrows, potions and food. They asked around for monster sightings but the people there knew nothing. They booked a room in an inn and prepared to spend a relaxing night for once. Of course, everyone thought Sky was still recovering from that battle that hurt him physically and mentally, and didn’t question his lack of smiles and laughs.

Instead there was a deeper reason, he had to escape. That night nobody was taking shifts, as they were all in the safety of beds. Sky had been questioning himself many times during the last hours if it was the right thing to do, he loved his companions, but every time the thought of them being slowed down by his presence, he was more convinced he had to leave the heroes. They’d thank him later. If it wasn’t him, if Wild or Legend or Four were fighting Ghirahim instead of him, they would have ended it sooner and less pathetically and they surely wouldn't have frozen in front of it and maybe they wouldn't even have needed the guardian potion. Ah yes, the only thing he managed to do in all of it was poisoning himself apparently.

But Fi… the others were her masters too, he couldn’t bring her with him. It would be like stealing everyone’s most valuable weapon. Yes that Master Sword was his, the others had their own in their own times.

In their own times, not there. Was he really going to leave without her? Maybe he’d go back, maybe when everything had ended he’d join the others back to take Fi and bring her home with him. Or maybe not, maybe Fi was destined to travel with those real heroes. After all, Ghirahim was dead now, wasn’t it? Demise was gone too, and Sky’s other tools or a simple sword were more than enough for the smaller monsters in his era.

He was losing a too long time there thinking about it. The right thing was obviously leaving her with the group! So, Sky took his other tools, a few food rations,his sailcloth, and a potion… no, no potions. Hyrule had told him he had to avoid potions for some days. He finally closed his bag and, as quietly as he could, left the inn. He wasn’t heard or seen by anyone.

____________________________

Everyone slept so well that night. Twilight woke up early to watch the sunrise, without any worry, just for that day. The rancher hadn’t paid attention to the silhouettes of his companions sleeping in their beds, why would he have to anyway. They were all warm and safe and the village was lively, really no sign of any monster, he had started to question why they were there, maybe Hylia was giving them some rest, or maybe, like the other time, the enemy was hiding in the woods. Twilight was sitting on the steps of the little stone staircase leading from the ground to the entrance of the inn, just looking around and enjoying the peace. There was a round square with a fountain in the center, and the buildings were around it. All around, there was a field and then a forest. They were most likely high in altitude, probably on a mountain valley, as he could see the silhouettes of mountaintops, and everything was made of wood and stone. It was really peaceful.

Twilight was later interrupted by Four, looking quite surprised.

“I thought Sky would have woken up after all of us, instead he got up before me and Hyrule! Hyrule wanted to check on both of you, but Sky isn’t inside. Were you two together?”

Twilight’s face showed pure confusion. Nobody had opened or closed that door before Four that morning.

“Strange, there’s no chance he got up before you and went for a walk. And if that was the case he should be here now already. But I assure you he’s not inside the inn. The Master Sword is on his bed though.”

After some minutes in which the two stared at each other in total confusion, Hyrule and Wild showed up.

The first two informed them about the situation and as Hyrule joined them with a confused face, Wild realized his concern from the day before wasn’t unfounded and quickly alerted the other 3 and rushed in to wake the others up. There was no time to lose. Maybe Sky hadn’t heard his apologies, maybe everything that happened had impacted him more than what everyone could have imagined.

The 8 heroes were all in the bedroom. Silent. Looking at the Master Sword and then at each other, all ready with weapons and shields and tunics. Though usually, Sky would have charged them all with optimism and energy and they would have taken the path all together smiling and laughing at someone's horrible joke. Time couldn’t understand how they had ended in that situation, yes he and Wild had had that messed up discussion but was that alone enough to cause Sky to react that way? Maybe, everyone realized, he had been told he was useless before, maybe in his quest, by someone important, and that had left a huge scar that had been reopened. Wild had a similar story, if someone told him he was a failure, if one of his companions died because he wasn’t fast enough or good enough to save them, he would have done the same, like he almost did when Twilight was hurt. Of course, not because of that single episode, but because of everything behind it. Maybe, the scar had never truly closed and Sky had forced himself to be optimistic and happy to avoid showing them he felt like he wasn’t enough. If that was the case, the chance he would do something extreme was higher. They had to find him as soon as possible!

They didn’t know that place nor where to look. Their initial research was inconclusive. They looked around the village, in the nearest woods, they took the opposite route of the day before, they asked some villagers, but nothing. Where had Sky gone? Was he really that far? They even divided and searched in groups, but came back to the inn with nothing. It was already afternoon, in about 3 hours the sun would have setted. They were getting tired. They absolutely didn’t want to leave Sky alone, but they had no idea on what to do.

Wild took the Master Sword and held it eye level. Sky had said Fi was way more than a voice. She was a companion… and a guide! Maybe she could help, if she was still there.

They couldn’t talk with her or see her, but maybe…

Wild walked to the center of the square, near the fountain, and held the sword with both his hands. He started moving it aimlessly, upward, downward, forward. He needed to understand how to make it work.

Then, he noticed a feeble blue light appearing for a moment then disappearing, something was happening. He swung it again and again and noticed the light appeared always when held horizontally. The others noticed too and came closer. Wild held it firmly, forward. The light was there, but so dim, almost nothing. Slowly, he started turning around, completing a segment of a circle. And then a semi circle, still nothing more happened. The others looked surprised and confused, but they felt there was something right with what Wild was doing. And after another bit, a visible blue light lit up.

They didn’t know what it was, how it happened and what it meant. But maybe Fi was really trying to show them the way, they could follow her direction, it was worth trying.

For maybe the first time after he woke up in the shrine, Wild was not only following directions, but also giving the others directions. He had been in charge of using the Master Sword as he had found out how it worked. Nobody else’s Master Sword had any ability other than being able to seal darkness and channeling energy for a spin attack, so the heroes were all extremely curious. Even Time found that interesting, and Legend and Four were trying to understand the magic and logic behind the ability.

The path they took was full of obstacles, but of course the shortest. Fi was guiding them towards the forest, the dense vegetation and tall fir trees created patterns of lights and shadows, that reminded them they now had about 2 hours to find Sky before they found themselves traveling in the dark. The ground was slippery and some slopes were steep, and yet they were almost running, the sword giving them hope.

Wild couldn’t deny that looking for Sky, with him as the leader, was making him feel useful and put aside his own recurring thoughts about his failure. Maybe being alone for so long had enhanced those, and now adventuring with some companions was finally making him see the truth. He couldn’t say he was totally over it, or he wouldn’t have lost control when Twilight was dying and when Sky was about to be cursed, but he was surely healing. After that adventure, when he’d eventually go back, he needed to explore his land with Flora and help every citizen. That thought made him smile softly.

Four and Legend, walking next to him, noticed it and asked if he sensed they were getting closer. Wild answered the smile was for something else, but they surely were, every step in the right direction was shortening their distance. Or at least, they hoped so. They chose to believe in Fi’s light, that, they had noticed, was somehow getting brighter.

They couldn’t believe Sky could have walked that far by pure force of will. They were taking a huge shortcut, with Fi’s help, and they had already taken 2 hours to get where they were. They still hadn’t found him and they only had one hour. Twilight checked his amount of oil for the lantern, Legend and Four checked their own tools. Wars used to have a lantern during his quest but it broke, luckily Legend said he had another one in case they needed more light. Nobody was surprised by his statement. Classic Legend.

Then, Four noticed something. There were monster footprints on the muddy ground. Lizalfos, most likely.

So there were monsters in that era! Monsters they had to catch and destroy before crossing another portal. Near the monster’s, a human pair of footprints was imprinted on the ground, coming from the right, turning and going straight ahead. And the Master Sword was pointing right in that direction.

Did the monsters take Sky? Or did Sky chase them? There was only one way to know.

The heroes were running, now with the footprints and Fi’s help together following the path was a piece of cake. Maybe they were still on time. They were getting a bit worried, but Sky was the best at fighting, yes his shape wasn’t the best but he could make it. As they got deep into the forest, they noticed it was full of fireflies. The sun had set now, but thanks to the little creatures they could still see quite well.

They stopped abruptly when they heard the noise of swords clashing and monsters screaming. They were all on top of a small C or gulf shaped cliff, about 2 meters tall. On the ground below them were 3 green lizalfos, armored and with what looked like a huge arm guard, one with its spiked tail already cut off and black blood dripping from the open wound. The man the heroes were looking for was right there. Sky was fighting the monsters alone with his whip, beetle and bow.

The heroes, ready with their swords and bows, were ready to jump down and help. Wild had Fi with him and he of course wanted to give her to her master!

But Sky made eye contact with him for a brief second before dodging a tail attack, and be it because he had Fi in hand, or because of the fireflies, or because he had understood he and Sky were extremely similar in a way, Wild got the message. They had to stay there. He turned back and looked at the others.

“Everyone stop!”

The others looked at Wild extremely confused, but did as he said. Four asked why, Warriors stated he wasn’t going to leave a companion in danger alone.

“I wouldn’t either! But that’s what he wants and what he needs. If we jump there and kill even one of those infected monsters for him, he’d feel like we think he isn’t good enough. Instead he will defeat them all!”

Wild turned back at Sky and swung the Master Sword to make him notice it. Sky raised his right arm, after hitting one of the lizalfos with the whip, and Wild threw him the sword, which the chosen hero catched perfectly from the handle. He smiled, and nodded in gratitude. As he slashed the monster, Wild continued.

“I made him feel useless. That probably hurted him way more than we imagine. Like talking about my own failure, it still hurts even now, you’ve clearly seen it. He probably needs to prove himself, and me, he can do this, fighting without our help. I don’t want to steal him another opportunity to end an enemy for good”

The others agreed with Wild. Sky was perfectly capable of defeating 3 infected lizalfos on his own, and if that could make him feel better, if that could heal his pure soul, then it was the right thing to do.

The monsters screamed.

In few, fast and precise moves the lizalfos were all nothing but black smoke, blood, and a bunch of tails and horns. Wild was the first to jump down and immediately threw himself on Sky to hug him tight. It was finally time for him to give the hero his formal apologies, apologies Sky knew were the truest and most genuine he had ever heard. Of course he hugged Wild back and reassured him he felt better now, he had been so mad at himself for having failed again and those lizalfos were all he needed to release the anger. The others reached them shortly after, after letting the two heroes have a moment for themselves first.

They all hugged Sky and Wild or gave pats to their backs, and then promised to remember they were all valuable, worthy, and strong enough. Wild joined them promising that he’d be extra careful and try his best to not snap again, and Sky followed. He wouldn’t escape again. He would always try to remember he’s worthy, and in case he felt like the day before, he would discuss it with the others.

“Look, Hyrule said your body isn’t even at its best, and yet you managed to keep up with 3 empowered lizalfos without the master Sword! And those looked huge and armored!” Wind said.

They walked away, back to the village and the inn, chatting and smiling, with their lanterns all lit on, and a bunch of fireflies following them, attracted to the light.

Maybe the heroes could spend that night enjoying the peace of that village, the sound of water coming from the fountain, a warm dinner, and play their instruments, or maybe they could get the rest they all needed. Either way, they had to spend it carefree.

____________________________

The day after, as they were walking in that forest again in search of other footprints or monsters, Sky noticed a dark figure moving swiftly between the trees in the distance. Wind quickly took his telescope and saw Dink opening a portal. As the heroes rushed there, Wild stated that Sky, other than being the best swordsman ever, also had a sharp eye. They all smiled, someone laughed.

With positivity and optimism, they all got into the portal, ready to chase and fight Dink again.

[fictionkinfessions]

*yelling at everyone who hates on Ganon AND the folks who sexualise him because he's portrayed as the villain*

Ganon was not the bad guy! Demise exists you know! Demise was a manipulative asshole who used Ganon's desire for power, control, and some fucking stability in his godesses-damned life for once against him for his own gain, and he certainly did not need the help of dark* magic on his side to do it!

And do you guys even know how much fucking effort it took from all of us to break Demise's hold over him? Do you know how many late nights Zelda spent desperately searching through every magical text she could find in the ruins of the castle, praying to the goddesses for anything she could use to help? Do you know how many times Gan asked to be locked away for our safety and the kingdom's safety because he was so fucking terrified he'd hurt someone? Do you know how many times I sat up with him at night because he had nightmares about every time we couldn't beat him, and all those years in the castle with Zelda where he could have killed her? Do you know how damn hard my husband tried to beat Demise the whole time? Every single time you played the game and beat him, he was trying so hard to be better, to fight of Demise.

Imagine if there was a powerful magician who had manipulated you for millenia across every incarnation of you, across years and centuries, and every time there was a hero and a princess who came to fight you. Imagine if one day you realized you weren't getting anything from this person who promised you the kingdom, and started trying to fight back and the hero and the princess didn't recognize that. Imagine if these people you had come to care about immensely because they put you out of your abused misery could only ever kill you because they didn't know how to help. Imagine if there was a period of 100 years when you were locked in unending battle with the princess and she was finally able to see your struggle but couldn't do anything until the cycle repeated itself yet again because you both knew it was too late now. Imagine if you were transformed time and time again against your will into a beast and a body you couldn't control because He was and you had to watch as your own body killed your princess and your hero.

If you can imagine how horrible of a life that is, then you can see what my husband lived. He is not the villain. My wife and I worked so hard to get to the point where our husband could break Demise's control. Gan worked so hard to break it. He literally passed out from the effort of fighting that strong of a magic while trying to use a magic he'd never wielded before. Stop devaluing his fight, and stop devaluing that fight when he loses that fight.

A very angry Link fictive who is pissed at fandom for being mean to their husband (#💚🗡️)

(*btw, magic's dark/lightness is based on intention, but also I stand by the fact that the concept of dark/light magic being a racist concept, however I don't really know any other way to phrase this. but yeah, magic isn't inherently good or evil, it's a force of nature. you wouldn't call a hammer evil or the tides evil, they simply are. You call the intentions behind their use evil.)

PS: to any Ganons, Ghirahims, or actually any other villains from anything ever, I know you had your reasons (even if they were that you thought it'd be fun tbh) and I won't hate you for it

PPS: I once fronted in the middle of one of our classes just to share that "I" firmly believed that Ganon wasn't the villain AND OUR TEACHER AGREED WITH ME!!! minor positivity in my "yells at fandom" post ig

x

[tenebriism]

Rain. It was one of his least favorite weather types Link had encountered on the surface, and yet today it felt a bit serene as the clouds slowly rolled over the sun. 'Haps it was somehow his companion that made it more enjoyable.

... His companion that seemed to - for once - be QUIETLY staring at him as he leaned against a natural stone wall to catch his breath. He can see what seemed like a cave entrance in the distance, but it was still quite far, and he certainly didn't feel like walking anymore.

So he didn't. Instead, the hero slid down the wall with a sigh and allowed his burning blue gaze to land 'pon Ghirahim. " What do you — " His words were cut off, lips colliding together suddenly and causing eyes to widden.

It only took a short moment for Link to melt into the kiss, hands gripping gently at the Demon Lord's cape as his eyes fluttered to a half closed state.

The Demon Lord, too, preferred sunshine and DRYNESS to this dreary, damp weather. What BENEFIT did rain bring to those not born of earth and flora? It seeps through everything, makes his garbs HEAVY with liquid, and need he draw attention to how it brought infuriating disarray to the hair, once a perfect cut that shaped sharp jawline and asymmetrical ears beautifully, that now stuck to every part of his face, HINDERING his eyesight and making him look ragged and terrible?

By the time they've managed to seek proper refuge, the damage is done both to body and mood. 'Tis not as if the Demon Lord is known to have a warm or welcoming demeanor, but he is... AGREEABLE in the right company; nothing could salvage the mood now, and so he is left to stew beside the hero as they wait for the rain to let up. Yet, the longer they sit in silence, the rain refusing to let up even a smidgen, the more his irritation swells. Link has been working with him on patience... on not lashing out merely because something has inconvenienced him, and though he thinks the hero a tad too naive and optimistic in his ways, he feels like he's made SOME notable progress. No longer does he shove the other, or resort to crushing INSULTS when displeased. He even attempts mindless conversation, sometimes, even if much prefers SILENCE rather than pointless chatter.

The silence isn't helping this time, though. Not when it is being drowned out with rain and thunder--- the CAUSE of their current and inconvenient predicament. The urge, then, to retaliate in some form grows ever worse as the seconds pass; he'll do something regrettable if he does not find some means of a suitable distraction before his irritation hits its peak.

" Shut up... " The demand is sharp, curt. Ghirahim grips him roughly, pressing him with intent to trap him against the wall as his advances grow in intensity.

What drives him to take THIS course of action is a mystery even to him. Affection is not his strong suit, nor had he ever yearned for it, likely because he hadn't known what it was prior to reuniting with the hero. Now, he finds it is a pestersome need that is never QUITE met, mayhap because he does not open his mouth and ASK for it out of fear of appearing weak or vulnerable. Whatever self-inflicted consequences are born of this, he shoves to the back of his mind, focusing on how warm, SOFT, Link's lips are against his own as he sucks upon them with fervor. The taste of him, the territorial need to make the experience EXCLUSIVE to the Demon Lord and no other.

Indeed, he would ingrain the memory of this into every part of the hero's mind, and wave it off as naught more than the fault of the rain, of BOREDOM, afterwards. He needn't let the hero get too COMFORTABLE, after all, even if there was, indeed, a mutual desire left unattended betwixt them.

" This is taking too long... " He whispers, g r o a n s, before he descends upon the hero's neck and claims that with impatient lips, as well, " ... so you will entertain me. "

@hero-of-skies ;;

[camthesolemnone]

What is up GhiraFi nation. It is 2023 but I replayed Skyward Sword recently and I have a bunch of headcanons and a potential backstory for our favorite sword spirit duo, so here is my take on things.

So I, like many, believe that Ghirahim and Fi were both created by Hylia to serve her, protect the Master Sword and the Triforce, and serve in Hyrule's army. I like to think they were both originally human and students at the Knight's Academy. They grew up together, fell in love, and were eventually declared official knights after a few years of study.

Maybe Hylia had some foresight into the darkness and war that would soon be upon her nation, so she made Fi and Ghirahim into sword spirits (it's up to you whether that included murdering them or not) once they became of age so that they could inhabit the Master Sword and assist a hero far into the future if she failed to protect Hyrule.

Here is where my idea takes a turn. A lot of people believe Ghirahim intentionally betrayed Hylia for power, but what if that's not what happened? In order to protect the Triforce and the humans, Hylia raised a chunk of Hyrule into the sky. What if the duo was commanded by Hylia to retreat into the Master Sword, but Ghirahim didn't get the message in time and was left on the surface while Fi was carried away into the future Skyloft, none the wiser of her lover's absence until it was too late? I then presume Demise and his forces surrounded Ghirahim and turned him into a demon with immense powers alongside being the spirit for Demise's sword in exchange for his servitude. Ghirahim couldn't refuse once his mind had been corrupted.

A little farfetched, but we will never truly know what happened between those two, and that is just my interpretation of things. I like to believe Ghirahim wasn't so evil at the start and it was a communication error that left him drowning in darkness. Hopefully they can reconnect after Demise has been defeated and Link and Zelda have passed on. Sure Fi was to be put to an eternal sleep having fulfilled her purpose, but maybe the spirit residing in the fragmented remains of Demise's blade can wake her up...

(hint hint. Fic coming soon, maybe)

[casiavium]

Posting my AU day fic for Ghiralink week a couple hours early because I'm bored!!

You can also read it on ao3

Link first sees him when he's unloading baked goods from the delivery truck out back. A tall man dressed in pants with more rip than jean is leaning against the alley wall, smoking some sweet scented thing though it's barely 6:30 in the morning.

Link is carrying a rather heavy crate of bread when the man notices him, blowing a long stream of cotton candy breath without breaking eye contact. Weirded out, Link sets the bread down, and goes back to the car.

The building next to them is vacant, so Link is used to seeing roughed up teens hanging out, usually when the sun is down. He usually closes, so this morning shift is new to him.

The man looked different from the typical angsty high schooler spray painting the walls and smoking pot to get back at the system, and Link clocks him as trouble. He's his age, if not older, and probably their dealer. He makes a note to bring him up to management, though he knows they won't do anything. He has half a mind to get Zelda to help him, just to have another person there, but she's busy getting ready for the morning rush.

Link has moved onto the pastries when he is startled by the man in white jeans. He's leaning against the truck now, and up close, looks stranger than before. Pure white hair, bold makeup, shaven brows. Link almost drops his box, but gathers himself before it's too late.

The man clears his throat. Link ignores him.

On the way back to the truck, he stands in Link's path so he can't avoid him.

"Do you work here?" He gestures to the small building behind them, and Link nods. The man's face turns into a disgusted sneer. "How... quaint."

Flipping his asymmetrical hair, he doesn't get the hint that Link is busy. "How long have you been working here?"

Frowning, Link has to set down the pallet to hold up 5 fingers.

"Days? Years? Weeks?"

He nods at weeks.

"Don't get used to it." Ghirahim scoffs, and at Link's confused look, jingles keys in his face.

Prancing back to the abandoned building, the man ducks into the door with a satisfied wave, pointing at the insignia of a popular coffee corporation on the door.

Damn.

Link makes a mental note not to leave the building alone anymore.

The coffee company opens within a week. He knows the state of the building, and knows there had to have been some OSHA violations to get it up and running so fast. But the coffee company is a megacorp, and they can do whatever they want. Link occasionally sees the white haired man in the window, usually behind the counter, sometimes at a table with a laptop open in front of him and papers strewn about. He doesn't enter.

Once or twice he's seen him pass the mom-and-pop coffee shop Link works in, stopping to glance in the window. He's made eye contact a few times, but nothing more.

It's another week before the door rings to signal a new customer, and the white haired man walks up to the register while Link's on shift.

"Pleasure to meet you again..." He glances at the smeared name tag. "Rin. Strange name."

Link almost laughs. The man makes a show of reading the menu, belittling their minuscule choices compared to the chain next door, critiquing the handwritten down-on-the-farm chalkboard style. Finally, after a long sigh and a comment on how confusing it all is, he asks,

"What would you recommend?"

Were a friend to ask Link, he'd say a hot apple cider with three pumps of pumpkin spice, whipped cream and cinnamon on top. Given that this is not, he points to their drink of the week taped to the register, which just so happens to be their most expensive. In Link's opinion, this week's is atrocious.

The man's lip curls when he reads the cutesy name, but he agrees anyway. Link holds a pen to the cup, clearly asking for a name.

The man raises a blank brow, still leaning on the counter. There's a line now. "Don't talk much, do you?"

Link stares.

"Ghirahim." He sighs, straightening his posture. "G H I R A-him. Spell it right."

He adds a shrug as he leaves. "Or not. I'm not fussy."

Link passes the cup to Zelda and takes the next order.

A flurry of customers go by, but Link is sure to be "busy" washing the blender when his coworker has made Ghirahim's drink. She has it at the bar, pauses, and squints at Link's bad handwriting.

"Drink of the week for... Gary Ham?"

Link watches smugly as Ghirahim snatches the hot coffee, storming out of the shop with a huff.

Link can no longer hide behind a messy nametag when the owner Pumm decides they all need to look more professional. "Link" is printed clearly and legibly in stark black ink against a white background, pinned to the top of his apron where everyone can see.

Ghirahim avoids coming into the coffee shop, but Link sees him outside the window occasionally. He always glares at him when he notices.

He's with a group of people when he visits them next, his nasally whine loudly ringing through the room that they "could just go next door, he gets a discount there." A tall woman with hair as white as his waves his complaints off, saying she likes the taste better here and he doesn't share anyway.

Ghirahim's the last to order. Link almost makes Kina take it this time, but she's already busy with the drinks and Ghirahim's already seen him. He smirks at Link's little glare, and leans against the counter.

"Nice to see you again, sweetheart." He mocks, but his eyes glance down at the nametag. His face freezes when he sees the name is not Rin, and for a moment, Link wonders if he can pull off the evil twin act.

However, the chance that both twins have a brain that doesn't connect to their vocal cords is low, and Ghirahim rolls his eyes.

"So it's Link." He draws out the 'k', and it's kind of nice the way it rolls off his tongue. "You just have the handwriting of a toddler."

Link is pissed. This time, before Ghirahim can order, he grabs a cup without writing a name. Ghirahim squawks a protest over the sound of mid-tier pop music, his friends teasing him in the background. Link throws some sugary syrup into a cup, giving him what appears to be a glass of straight milk when he's done.

Kina's on the third friend's drink, who makes a snide remark about the service if Ghirahim's getting his first. A battle for dominance, Ghirahim walks to the counter to take it from Link's hand.

He doesn't let go.

From behind his back he pulls out the worst flavor they have, cherry syrup that tastes like cough medicine, and pours it over the top of his mocha-less white mocha. Ghirahim glances down at the red collating in the sugary monstrosity, barely holding together his disgust.

On the house Link seems to say with a smile and a tilt of his head.

Ghirahim snarls and takes the cup.

Just Link's luck, the friend group snags a table and stays there for a while. Ghirahim ignores him, but Link pays attention as he mulls over the slow coffee chit-chat, occasionally sparing him a glance to take a long sip when he knows Link's watching. It can't be good, the number of unappealing things Link put in there, but Ghirahim drains the whole glass.

As he leaves, he licks a drop of the cherry syrup from his finger, sending a smirk and a wink in Link's direction.

Against his better judgement, Link is the one to make the next move in their game of chess. He visits the megacorp coffee shop two weeks later, walking through the front door without looking back.

Ghirahim isn't there. Link isn't sure what his plan was now that he's at the register and can't speak, a bitchy barista telling him to hurry up as he frantically scribbles something on a pad. Someone is waiting behind him. He can't find his wallet. He fumbles the pen, plastic falling from his fingers, and is on the verge of panic when it slides under the counter.

"I'll take this one."

Link snaps up from crawling on the floor to see Ghirahim's hand on the shoulder of the other, gesturing with his eyes for Link to leave the line and wait at the counter. A hot flush floods his cheeks, and Link shrinks back.

Link doesn't see what all Ghirahim is making. He watches matcha powder get placed back on the shelf, hears the clink of ice, and then the man disappears behind a swinging door for a second. When he comes back, it's with a self absorbed smirk.

"Here." He slides a bright green drink across the bar, the sides ringed with threads of red syrup. Link's eyes widen. "Much better than what you gave me, I'll say."

Link takes the drink, eyes cast away. With a fluid motion he moves an open palm from his chin to out in front of him, and hurries away.

Thank you.

He doesn't know if Ghirahim understands.

The next time Ghirahim visits, Link is working alone. It's closing, and Pipit is taking the trash out that night. He doesn't expect any customers that late on a Tuesday, not even a stray college student pulling an all-nighter.

He's slacking off behind the counter, watching videos on his phone, when the bell rings. Nearly falling from his chair, he gasps when he sees white hair and tight clothes, a splash of purple makeup on a pale face.

Immediately, he gets to work.

The espresso machine has been cleaned and shut down, but Link fires it up anyway. This time, he takes his time pouring the syrup around the edge of the cup, mixing the white chocolate powder until it's smooth and creamy. He gives him oat milk, though they're supposed to charge extra (and he's not charging him at all), and tops it off with whipped cream.

Link makes a second of eye contact before grabbing a pen. Something possesses him this time. He writes his number on the cup, and the first words he's ever "spoken" to Ghirahim. Leaving the drink on the bar, he scurries behind a curtain to finish his closing duties.

From behind the fabric he peeks out, Link watches as Ghirahim's mouth quirks into a smirk when he reads his messy writing. He pulls out his phone, types something in, and walks out of the coffee shop without a word.

Link's phone buzzes.

"I can give you something other than coffee to keep you up all night. Call me."

You couldn't have thought of a better pick up line?

[sadnessisavegetable]

Praying my Beta Reader Does Not Find this (love them, but no spoilers for them, even on character descriptions)

Hi, hello, I do not typically get much in the way of attention on this site, so I am not afraid of this appearing where my beloved beta, Yuki, can find this. Therefore, this is my dumping ground because I am so incredibly Autistic about my characters.

This is for my Lost Paths AU for LOZ. Lop is the Link of this story, Zyel is the Zelda of this story, Ganondorf is Ganondorf (as always), let's get into Details I Like.

Lop:

This Bastard(TM) was raised by bears. He was literally abandoned in the wilds with nothing but a brand of what he uses as a name and a strange tattoo on his face.

He's deaf because of a physical deformity. It makes everything greatly interesting in the opening of the story.

Said physical deformity made his ears floppy because they are not going to hear the whispers of the Gods, Nuh-Uh, No Ma'am.

Has no shame (much to Zyel and Ghirahim's chagrin) and Will bathe in the Castle moat. In broad daylight. Without much to hide behind. (He picked up the Hero Spirit's gremlin trait very strongly.)

His hair is fluffy and curly and a more honey-golden color, a softer and lighter blond.

Schmol. He looks very cute in everyone else's clothes because they are Too Big for him. But he is mighty enough to wield a Very Big weapon with one hand.

Zyel:

Not A Woman, but still goes by the Princess title so it's not more complicated to the public he will rule one day.

I flung Twili characteristics on this one because ain't no way some random Twili flung themselves at a white(AHEM. I'M NOT WRONG.) royal to negotiate Not Using the Twilight Realm like the British did to Australia.

The Twili blood emphasized the Zonai blood still passed through the Royal Line for Zyel. So Zyel looks somehow more Twili than he should--more like the original Twili anyways.

Nocturnal in the ways that matter, usually hopped up on sugar and caffeine to be awake during daylight and napping during weird times in a 24 hour cycle while more naturally awake at night. (It's so complicated)

Stubbornly figured out how to automate printing presses the way the ancients did, started automating more things (though yet to figure out a coffee one)

More impulsive than any Zelda prior.

Ganondorf:

Resurrected a dead language because he could not be bothered to learn a modern one among his people.

His memory and consciousness is passed through each descendant, activated whenever the previous user of his consciousness dies. Some descendants are lucky enough to get away with dying before they become him, which he doesn't mind so much because they were themselves without question.

Stubborn. Bastard. Will. Not. Lay. Down. And. Die. You can't make him and if you try, his Sheer Rage will swallow your being and make it cease to exist.

A WHORE. HE HAS A HAREM. AND NOTHING MANAGES TO FULLY SATISFY HIS ASS.

Still pissy about how the Gerudo blood got diluted and domesticated just before the Era of Wild Tears. Fully flooded the Gerudo Canyon as a river for the third time now to keep Hylians out because No Fucking More Colonization For Us, Thanks.

Sometimes, when drunk, he causes storms that he knows will hit Hylian towns just because he can (weather magic user go brrrrrrr).

(BONUS!) Ghirahim:

Duke of Hell (Hell is a region in the Land of the Dead in this version, as are the Depths and Lorule, so it's more of a dukedom thing rather than a kingdom, but several dukedoms go into a kingdom from my understanding) and (Mother? Father? Parent?) Creator of Monsters (yes, this BASTARD can actively pull the "I put you into this world, I can take you back out" on all the monsters he made).

Gender? What's that gotta do with anything? You're gay no matter how you approach me with any intent of romance. Up. Up! GAY. Siddown and be gay for me.

His demonic form is more clearly a warped angelic form in my version because he started as a failed prototype to Fi as the Goddess Sword. (Scars where wings used to be, docked ear--HYLIA DID IT IN MY VERSION, blackened, feathered wings on either side of his head, tail with the shape of his blade hidden in the tip of it, white and gold laced through his skin(gold for repairs))

Makes fun of bad historians who have no idea how it really went.

Has puppeted people around to get knowledge out of people without torturing them with waterboarding or electricity or slowly cutting body parts off.

Has five children. All of them are sword/blade demons like him. And it's funny as fuck.

[arkon-z]

Watching theory posts on @botwstoriesandsuch about the 'character' of Hylia is wild. Everyone (including me, apparently) has pretty strong opinions about her. And because i'm sure you're all dying to know, here's mine:

Hylia is a person-shaped plot device. She's not Zelda's final form. And nothing of the main plot of Skyward Sword ever happened to Hylia. It only happened to Zelda. Just Monika Zelda. Hylia gave up her power and status to be reborn as a mortal, which was Zelda. That's (broadly) reincarnation.

To use an example from familiar media, Hylia is Zelda's past life, in the same way that Avatar Roku was Aang's past life. Roku wasn't born to the Air Nomads, Roku didn't vanish for a hundred years only to be found by some kids from the Water Tribe - Aang did. They're not the same person, even if they have the same soul or spirit or whatever it is that passes from one Avatar to the next.

Likewise, Hylia didn't grow up with Link, Hylia didn't get pulled out of the sky by a tornado and Hylia was captured by Ghirahim only to be saved by Impa - that was Zelda. Hylia played no role in the game as a main character. And she'll never be a character, because what would she add to the story? Nothing, because if you put a god on the playing field, the power scale suddenly spikes and these little mortals around whom the story has resolved thus far suddenly become trivial.

The Legend of Zelda is about Link and Zelda and their fight to keep Hyrule safe. Where's the struggle and the story born out of that struggle if Hylia could just walk into the middle of everything and solve it with her god powers? There wouldn't be one. That's why she's not a character.