#Yiga appreciation post

[attractivesteaminghunkofflesh69]

GLORY TO MASTER KOHGAAAA

Just a yiga appreciation post 🤭

[linksthoughtbrambles]

Thought I'd give you a one word prompt for any of the Zelinks: Ghost.

@nocturnalfandomartist, thank you, thank you, thank you for this prompt. It inspired something that astonished me more the more I wrote - and I couldn't stop writing. It may be longer than you bargained for at 9K words, but I enjoyed writing every single word of it. I will write at least one follow-up. This is a canon-compliant sequel to What to Expect When Fetch-Questing and a loose sequel to The Seeds of Love, Well-Worn and What Once Rang Hollow (with a few continuity differences for that last one) but it can stand easily on its own. Rated T, post-TotK, humor, drama, and romance.

Eternal

Link was extremely pleased he had his own arm back.

Unfortunately, he was the only one.

Purah (“Are you fricking KIDDING me?! I wanted to study that thing!”), Robbie (“I must repair my balloon myself?!”), Impa (“Mmm—a pity. With it, we might have learned how to create our own constructs—perhaps incorruptible ones.”), Paya (“That’s too bad, Link—it looked good on you!”), Tauro (“Ahhh. I’m sure you’re feeling better, but I was hoping I could learn more of the Zonai language from it, somehow.”), Calip (“It’s gone?! What did you do with it? You should’ve given it to me as an expert in these matters!”), Sidon (“My dearest friend! Where has your adult arm gone? Are you well?”), Yunobo (“Oh NO, Link, you lost your cool arm!”), Tulin (“Oh mannn. You still have my pledge, Link, but I don’t think I should just…slap my rune on your body. We gotta get you some rings or something.”), and Riju (“I didn’t expect you to look so much smaller without it.”), not to mention every single member of the monster control crew, and essentially anyone in Hyrule who ever recognized him, all thought he’d been better off with part of Rauru grafted onto his body.

Even Zelda wasn’t (entirely) an exception.

She did appreciate Link’s hands during their personal time (“I must admit, Link, I’d have felt strange were you doing this with a Zonai’s hand rather than your own”), but the scholar and sovereign in her definitely mourned the loss of such a unique artifact.

“Link, is there any chance you still share a psychic connection with Rauru?”

“Nope,” he said.

She blinked at him.

“Sorry,” he said, blushing and sheepish.

Now that the depths, sky, and newfound caverns had created vast opportunities for exploration, research, and innovation, Zelda’s original aim of rebuilding Hyrule had essentially tripled. She and Link knew if they didn’t make depths exploration and settlement official, people would do it on their own and get themselves killed (or the Yiga would claim it, and Hyrule would be threatened again in a few centuries). So it was, indeed, official as were new initiatives to investigate Zonai technology—making the Great Abandoned Central Mine one of several hubs of Hyrulean activity in the depths. Its proximity to the healing spring directly beneath the Shrine of Resurrection had made it a frequent destination of theirs.

Link and Zelda materialized beneath the Koradat Lightroot to the weighty vertigo of silence in the dark beyond the root’s oasis.  It was the same every time—some quiet dread sinking into the deepest pit of Link’s belly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.  He kept telling himself it would be better once people settled, with their warm lights and the sounds that come with them going about their daily business.  Zelda kept telling him otherwise. (“We oughtn’t fill this place to the brim with light, Link. We would disturb its ecosystem severely”).

Link was usually on board with leaving nature undisturbed for the most part.

Maybe it was the time he’d spent down here in utter silence but for his own footsteps, utter darkness but pale flowerlight shot into a black so matte it may as well have been death’s void; the pressure of vast expanses of pitch-black felt nothing like a sea of undisturbed trees far above in the light.

There wasn’t even any wind.

Were both nature? Yes. Were both natural?

It didn’t feel like it.

“Shall we?” Zelda said.

It severed Link’s fledgling reverie. He tore his eyes from the lightless maw beyond Hylia Canyon and turned to join Zelda in descending the steep slope on the path toward the Great Abandoned Central Mine. He gave her a small smile, though he knew, from her face, it didn’t reach his eyes.

Her return smile did. “I hear one of our survey teams discovered another root in that direction,” she said. “We merely- ah- well-“

“Have to figure out how to light it up without my arm,” Link said.

A hint of pink dusted Zelda’s cheekbones. “Yes. Sorry, Link.”

The mine’s central structure loomed in the distance, its light cold, the highest statue of the ancient Gerudo sage always watching, an intimidating glower over the hilt of her sword aimed at any who would ascend the formidable stair toward its main entrance.

“Hello, Aratra,” Zelda whispered, as she always did, as though the woman herself could still answer her.

As they neared the bottom of the hill, blue flickered in Link’s vision. “Zelda,” he said, pointing to the small cluster of poes coming into view on the left.

The spectre of that intimate grief between them passed over her face as she nodded.

He didn’t say it wasn’t her fault.

Since he didn’t say it, she didn’t say it could be.

The words floated between them, spoken so many times they’d become an immutable understanding: that she’d been too slow, that he’d been too silent, that they’d both been too obedient to the long-dead king whose grave Zelda still brought blue gentians to in the early days of each summer.

That neither of them blamed the other for it.

That they’d both spend the rest of their lives making up for it.

And that they’d do it together.

Neither of them knew whether the spiritual flames were casualties of the Calamity.

Link only knew the vague sense of relief he felt when they entered him. It felt like they felt safe—sometimes, he even sensed joy—and they clung to him so hard.

They clung to Zelda, too, it turned out.  As they approached, the spirits snapped eagerly into whichever of them was nearest, nestling somewhere unfathomable within them until released to a bargainer’s care. Link still didn’t trust the bargainers, exactly, though they intended to visit the one in the mine that day.

They didn’t talk much. They usually didn’t when sliding through the depths’ silence—sound felt like a beacon to whatever might be beyond the lightroot’s reach; yet they moved in unwavering agreement, sweeping up every poe in their path and off it within sight. It’s why they took the long route to every work site.

They veered far off the path at one point to collect a dozen wayward souls atop a half-buried ruin of a toppled archway.

“If we go much further, we’ll be at the spring rather than the mine,” Zelda said.

“Yeah,” Link answered quietly. They turned to rejoin the path further up, hugging the rounded base of a monumental column presumably carved by nature, reaching the impossibly high ceiling of what was far, far too large to consider a mere cavern. It was like a space willed into existence by the gods themselves.

Link’s mood lifted as the sounds of civilized activity reached him, more and more distinct as they neared the foot of the quadruple-flight of stone stairs beneath the statue’s feet. Link caught a glimpse of a Sheikah scientist, little but a few motes of color on the highest level of the structure, cheerful construct “Brrrp!”s reflecting toward them off any of hundreds of stone facades: every surface the same pale grey—every light cool and lifeless.

Link couldn’t imagine living in such a place. With an irritated grind of his teeth, he realized he strongly preferred the haphazard Yiga structures, with their paper and oil lights and bound wood. The real, green-leaved brightblooms were also better than the Zonai’s artificial torches.

“Rupee for your thoughts,” Zelda whispered.

Link huffed. “The place needs some color.”

She paused on the stairs, a third of the way up, her torso shaking with laughter and her hand squeezing his tight.

Link tried not to smile. He didn’t want her to think he liked being laughed at.

“Link,” she said, holding her stomach, “that is…precisely the sort of observation I ought to expect you to make.”

He really tried to keep a sour grimace on, but he knew his lips were going twitchy.

“Unfortunately,” Zelda said, eyeing his lips with suspicion, “I am no longer in a position to pass on your criticism of Zonai décor.”

Link snorted. “Neither am I. But I definitely would’ve said something to Rauru if I’d seen this before he disappeared.”

“I have no doubt! And truly, you’re right. I cannot imagine spending any great length of time down here with nothing but grey stone and white light.”

Link nodded. “At least not without experiencing crushing environmental depression.”

Zelda inclined her head, no longer laughing. “Indeed. It makes one wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“…Whether the monsters find it as unpleasant as we do,” she said, her eyes sweeping the far-off dark.

Link let that one sink in as they made the landing. Zelda touched the dais on which her old ally stood with reverence. When her hand slid from the porous stone, they continued up the staircase on her right. The chamber below would wait until later.

They ascended among tents clustered on the flagstones before the forge, lining the walls both natural and Zonai-made right up to the great arch.  They littered the circular courtyard on the other side of the building, too, the royal crest and symbols of the Sheikah, Zonai Survey Team, and Gerudo adorning many. The familiar sound of a fan whirred somewhere above them, out of sight.

It had been quite a stroke of luck, really, that Link had activated these facilities before Rauru’s arm vanished. The constructs had still recognized him as their “primary authorizer” and he’d been able to grant access to others.

He admitted, though, it was getting cumbersome; the moment he saw Ponnick, he knew he’d run out of time to think about Zelda’s monster-wonderings.  He flagged Link down (as if Link wasn’t looking straight at him) with arms wild above his head. “Thank the skies you’re here, we have new recruits!”

Link then spent the obligatory hour introducing them to all the constructs in the facility.

Zelda had her own work in store for her. Between decisions regarding distribution of newly acquired zonaite and reports from the excavation, inventory, innovation, and engineering teams, she easily had a full day of deliberation and arbitration ahead. Link joined her for much of it once he’d fulfilled his authorization duties—after all, he’d become something of an amateur engineer himself. It was nice to have something scientific to contribute when talking with Zelda.

“You can totally build a wing/hot-air-balloon hybrid!” he’d said.

 “Link, that sounds quite impractical-“

“No, no, you don’t put the balloon in the middle, you put it on the nose at an angle, see?  Then it drags the wing upward.”

“L- Link- what of the flame needed?“

“Oh, no, it’s fine, you only get burned a little bit.”

“What?!”

“And you still put the fans on the back, you know, to help out. Oh, and the steering stick.”

“Link, forgive me, but the flame shall not be directed straight up. It is inefficient and unsafe.”

“Yeah but the LIFT!”

He’d quite liked his flaming plane. So had Robbie.

Today, the engineering talk had more to do with shoring up mining tunnels, which while important, did not require Link’s particular flair for incendiary devices. All their talk of angles, sines, and cosines seemed a bit more precise than his higgledy-piggledy constructions to hold up Addison’s signs, so he eventually left them to it, jogging instead to the rim of the courtyard, climbing up, and inviting all the poes newly showing themselves to join him—then scouting for more from his higher vantage point. He’d grown used to the quizzical looks from everyone else but Zelda.

“What?” he’d asked as Ponnick watched him jog, zig-zagging, in a roughly circular area covered in pale grey and lavender fungi.

“What are you doing?”

“Collecting the poes,” Link said.

“Poes? Where?!” Ponnick spun, wildly searching for spirits which glowed blue, plain as day, in Link’s vision.

At least Zelda could see them, too.

On balance, between the poes, soldiers’ spirits, koroks, Hestu, and the dragons of the springs, he’d have presumed himself insane if no one else ever saw what he saw.  He almost had after the ghost of King Rhoam disappeared right in front of his face in the Temple of Time: an insane amnesiac with delusions of heroism.

Except they hadn’t been delusions, because he’d killed the crap out of Ganon.

Twice.

Or, of course, he imagined it. Twice.

Link shook his head. No point going down that route. If he imagined that, he imagined everything, and if that was the case he might as well relax and start attaching rockets to every exhausted korok’s backpack like that one by Outskirt Stable.

Poor little guy. At least he made it the eleventh time.

He huffed to himself. Sometimes, Zelda thought he was a little nuts. He supposed he could see why.

As a particularly large poe with a bright pink fringe zzipped its way into his body, Link caught a wink of blue between boulders at the stone circle in the distance to the north—a small zonaite deposit he’d cleared of monsters for what seemed to be the final time, the blood moons having ended.

It sparked his curiosity.

He sprinted the first hundred feet, then slowed to a reasonable pace. He didn’t want to go too far and worry Zelda, but if there were poes at that old monster nest, he didn’t want to leave them there.

Ten minutes later, he entered the mouth of the circle, three moldy, rickety old watch-posts within and another gap in the rocks across from him. Blue flickered beyond it: five poes huddled together. As he approached, flashes of his last encounter there played across his mind’s eye. The bokoblin on the platform before him had seen him first and tried to rain fire-fruit-arrows on him. Two silver moblins had slouched toward him, intent on splitting him open with their horns or the decayed royal claymores they’d somehow gotten. The other two bokoblins had fallen quickly to Tulin’s duplicate. Five monsters in all.

Link’s lip curled.

He hesitated on the brink of turning back, the thought of helping anything that may once have been a bokoblin sending a shockingly wicked taste of bile up his throat. He brought a fist to his mouth, pressing it deep to his skin, the imprint of his teeth stark against his lips.

No one memory stood out.

He’d never met a bokoblin that hadn’t aimed to kill on sight—never known one to show mercy, or even disinterest. Once they knew a person was near, they entered an unstoppable, murderous frenzy until they succeeded or someone put them down.

Link shut his eyes and took breath after deep breath.

He didn’t know anything for sure, and the bargainers never said.

Except they did say.

“Good… Evil… That’s the futile perspective of narrow-minded beings… There is no such distinction in wandering spirits.”

When he next looked, the flames flickered every bit as forlorn as they always did. He shook his head, his feet finally choosing forward for him.

When the poes joined the others in Link, he felt the usual sense of relief. Whoever or whatever they were, they seemed glad to be with him—not as happy as the ones he’d found in the deepest pit of the mine beneath Hateno, but if he was stuck for Goddess-knows how long at the absolute bottom of a pitch-black pit, he’d have been overjoyed to get out, too.

He took his time on the way back to the courtyard, half-watching a team excavate a buried section of the cracked enclosure and half-scouting for more glints of spirit-light, pensive, wrinkling his nose as he became aware of the sticky sheen on his skin. He pulled a handkerchief from his pouch and took it to his face. It came away slightly green with the powdery spores always floating in the too-still air of the depths.  Zelda collected them to study, but Link preferred not to be the collection vessel.

Zelda herself appeared over the edge of the wall as he swept the cloth beneath his left eye a second time. He watched her make her way down the inclined stone the natural grace she’d always had.

When he reached her, she was busy snapping images of the newly excavated section of stone.

“It is remarkable how they accomplished this precision on such a massive scale.” The Purah Pad clicked. “These structures were erected before my time with them—long before for most. They are scattered so far and wide and yet certain markings on them are precisely identical. I suppose they may have mass-produced stones as they did construct parts and delivered them afar.”

Link grew a soft, sideways smile as he listened. He could imagine her doing exactly this in the sunshine, her hair brushing the small of her back, himself silent as always, allowing her voice to wash over him until she inevitably remembered who she was talking to.

“The compendium feature is still something of a mystery,” she’d said, snapping a carefully-timed shot of a warm darner just as it paused, searching for prey.

“It recognizes certain species, but not others. Initially, Purah and I believed its recognition to be related to useful effects. Warm darners are of use in elixirs to resist cold temperatures, for example. Yet despite being unable to identify any species of tree, the Slate recognizes certain perfectly ordinary fruits, including apples.”

Link thought apples were too delicious to be ordinary.  He didn’t dare say so, but the phantom flavor of hot buttered apple flooded his mouth and his stomach betrayed him with a thoroughly embarrassing hunger-pang much-too-much like the sound of a hopeful retriever begging for an appley treat.

Zelda’s back stiffened. She glanced over her shoulder at his now-pink face, her eyes flicking to the blue pommel peeking out behind his ear. Link remained perfectly still, and that included not swallowing his imaginary-apple-induced-saliva.

Then-Zelda had returned to imaging wildlife in a rankling silence.

Now-Zelda heard him huff a laugh and turned with a smile sparkling despite the cold light of this place. She hooked the Purah Pad onto her belt. “May I ask what’s amused you so?”

Link shrugged a little. “Ways you haven’t changed.”

“Ah,” she said, threading her fingers through his. “And what of ways I have?”

His voice emerged low and soft. “I love those.” He squeezed her hand.

It made her smile at him in a way far too similar to how she had much earlier that morning, not long after waking up. He swallowed as she pulled him toward her—then she squinted at him and laughed a little through her nose, taking the handkerchief still in his other hand and beginning to wipe his forehead.

“I did that already,” he chuckled.

“You missed your hairline,” she said with the soft laugh he’d come to recognize as her equivalent of a giggle. “It’s fortunate this substance does not irritate your lungs as it does for some.”

“Especially Nappin.”

“Indeed, yes, especially Nappin. I do not believe depths research is his calling.”

“Nope.”

“You must have walked through a thick patch.”

“Ran through, more likely.”

“Oh? Where did you go?”

Link motioned toward the stone circle in the distance.

Her brow pinched. “Monsters?”

“Poes,” he said, wondering if he should tell her about the coincidence of the number. It might make her feel better, to have some hint these weren’t all souls marooned by the Calamity, but he wasn’t sure how she’d take the possibility they might be doing favors for monsters who’d been intent on murdering them in life.

She must have seen it in the motions of his mouth, nearly but not quite speaking. “Something else?” she asked.

He sighed soft through his nose. “Just something that made me think.”

The corner of her mouth quirked. Then her whole face opened up in mock-surprise. “Incredible!”

“Pfff,” he said with a poke to her ribs.

She squeaked. The three people working on the excavation behind Zelda went from studiously ignoring them to unabashed staring. Link gave them a small wave just as he registered Zelda’s eyes narrowing at him.

She began to rub the handkerchief all over the crown of his head with unnecessary vigor.

“Hey!”

The sounds coming from her as he pushed her hands away were much more like a girlish giggle than anything she usually produced. “It was in your hair, too,” she pointed out.

“There’s probably some in yours, Princess,” he warned.

Her eyebrows shot very close to the hairline her hands had risen to protect.

Link smirked. Her braid was much more difficult to fix than his ponytail. He made short work of his, shaking his now-mussed hair out and re-gathering it in the tie. Hyper-aware of the team still at rapt attention in the background, he finished up and offered his hand to Zelda. “Truce?”

She took it with a small smile. “Yes, please—but sincerely, I would like to know what gave you pause in the short time we were separated.”

His smile ebbed as he began to lead her over the shallower side of the half-buried stone walkway. It was no use, really. He’d only been good at hiding things from her when she refused to look at him, so long ago.

“There were five poes,” he said, “same as how many monsters I last cleared out.”

Their feet fell so quiet on the soft courtyard ground covered in pale, fuzzy flora he had no real names for, some soft and mossy, others more like wisps or powders. A few prickled. He liked the purple ones best for breaking up all that grey.

Their feet followed the same path without any hesitance or need for confirmation—toward the great central corridor. Zelda finally answered ten feet from its first stones.

“The statues say… good and evil… are meaningless for them.”

“…Yeah.”

“For a few moments, I was wondering whether only the spirits remaining clear in the shape of Hylian soldiers were people, but… no.  For they aren’t poes at all, are they?”

Link shook his head. “No. They… find their way on their own. Once they’re done.”

Zelda nodded. “They had a purpose—to help you,” Zelda said.

“To help someone, anyway. Whoever came around to fight back.”

A series of clanging sounds echoed down the stone steps into the corridor, along with quizzical "Brrrp!"s and a Hylian's grumbling. Link's right hand flexed. No more convenient ultra-glue. He kept walking.

“Why down here?” Zelda asked.

She’d spoken so quietly he had to think to process her words over the noise.

“You mean why in the depths?” Link asked.

“Yes. Why so far beneath the place they perished? There seems little hope of aiding someone here, doesn’t there?”

“I came along.”

“Yet they can’t have known you would. They wouldn’t even have known the depths were here to travel here intentionally.”

Link shook his head. He had absolutely no idea.

They descended in thoughtful silence to the base of Aratra’s main statue, then behind her into the yawning chamber tucked deceptively beneath the center of the great structure.

It struck Link, as it often did, as the offer of an embrace. As the chamber opened before them, the long bridge leading from the entrance directly to the four-eyed face of the greatest bargainer statue, the platform running abreast its shoulders combined with its massive arms and it appeared so ready to encircle whatever came before it. When he’d first stood there, he expected it, watched those hands out of the corner of his eye, waiting for movement.

It had never come.

Instead, a distant but surprisingly level-headed voice had issued from the alien face. It had helped him—no question about that.

The poes gladly rushed into its waiting arms—no doubt about that, either.

But this entity had also played a trick on him to get him down here. He would never trust it the way he trusted the Goddess.

The Goddess statues were another matter entirely. Now that he knew more than one thing could talk out of them, he was a lot more wary than he’d been before.

They came to a halt near the great statue’s face.

“You who stand before me,” it said in tones of single drops of water echoing in a deep, black lake, “offer poes to me. They are spirits that ought to return to the afterlife.”

As always, the poes simply left them. With hundreds or thousands of spirits somehow housed within him, Link always expected there to be something like a whirlwind, or flashes of light—but there wasn’t. It was swift and gentle as a sigh: barely a murmur of any motion or sound. It took merely a moment.

Then a wave of desperate grief seized the core of Link’s body and he cried out, clutching at an anguished heart, though neither the cry nor the heart were his own.

“Link!” Zelda gripped his biceps, her face stricken.

“Z-elda-“ he said, more to answer her than anything else, at a complete loss.

“Two do not wish to leave you,” said the bargainer.

Link’s breath caught.  Zelda’s eyes flew wide, and she looked him up and down as though trying to find them. “Can you- pull them from him?”

“I can do no more than guide,” the bargainer answered. “I show the way home.”

“They usually seem quite pleased to go home. So- why?” Zelda’s face seemed approaching a panic like none he’d seen in over a hundred years.

“I’m fine, Zel,” Link said, “really- NO, really, I’m fine, I’m just- I feel what they feel.”

“Yes, I do as well, but this-“

“This is them not wanting to go,” Link said, shaking. His eyes met first the lower, then the upper pair of the bargainer’s. “Can you talk to them?”

“After a fashion.”

“Can you figure out why-“

“I know why.”

Link and Zelda waited a few beats.

“We would appreciate it if you would inform us,” Zelda said, a hint of exasperation in her voice.

There was a depth of quiet, as though all sound plummeted into some unseen pit, unable to return, siphoned, whenever the bargainers spoke across fathoms to their brethren.  It muted Link’s accelerated breaths. Zelda’s grip tightened, her mind visibly whirring behind the eyes flicking between his features.

“…You have made a substantial offering,” the bargainer said at length.

Link and Zelda exchanged a glance.

“You have made many offerings,” it continued, “many more than any other being in countless ages.”

Link experienced the distinct sensation of someone…curling around him, like Zelda would, holding him tight, but inside his own chest.

“If you agree, I will honor these spirits’ requests as repayment for your offerings.”

“Agree?” Zelda asked. “What requests?”

“They would speak with you,” it clarified.

The curl tightened. It felt like far, far more than a desire to speak. A creeping dread rose in him—his own—of what spirits would choose to cling with such desperation to his body.

Someone terrified of death? Of the afterlife? Maybe someone with a last request—a regret? Two someones—at the same time, when it had never happened before?

Or did the bargainer mean… “W-wait,” Link said with a swallow. “Do they want to speak to someone in general? Or is it just me? Or Zelda?”

Link resisted an inexplicable urge to whimper.

“It is you who stand before me,” the bargainer said.

“Meaning Link,” Zelda said squinting at the statue.

It stared as though its answer had been obvious.

“Do they mean him harm?” Zelda’s tone had hardened considerably. “We have seen spirits lift weapons- perform magic.“

Link lurched with a sudden fear—could he have picked up Ganondorf’s soul?

“I offer you a boon,” the bargainer said, “not a curse.”

Zelda blinked, taken aback, while Link registered the depth of the anguish invading his heart.

It didn’t feel like Ganondorf. He’d have been hatred—envy—fury.

No, that wasn’t it.

This was regret. Something undone or unfinished.

Link closed his eyes and tried to… reach—within himself, where this spirit wound around him. So tight—clinging—stubborn. Something made him breathe an incredulous laugh, and he didn’t even know why; but the more he seemed to press into the spirit’s space the more familiar it seemed, an intense vertigo hurtling toward him from an invisible horizon slamming his awareness into long ago, when the world was over a hundred years younger.

Link’s body gasped.

Link’s mind looked down at a very spiteful young girl with a thick mop of mixed sand-and-straw-and-acorn-colored hair which he’d wrestled into a braid for her earlier that day, springy strands poking out at odd angles as she narrowed her eyes at him, her gangly arms vice-gripping his ribs, her hands fisted, and her feet planted wider than shoulder-width apart, as though to brace him immovably in-place.

“This isn’t going to work out for you, cheeter,” Link said.

“You’re not going,” she answered, her voice a mix of petulant and acrid.

“I… kind of am.”

“Nope.” She sniffed, a bit of her own hair having tickled its way to the edge of one nostril.

“I mean, if you won’t let go, I can just drag you all the way to the castle.”

“Good.”

“Good?!”

“Dad takes you everywhere. My turn.”

“You clinging to my midriff isn’t the same as Father taking you somewhere.”

Her lip curled and Link felt kind of bad, but what did she expect? “You’re eleven.”

“So?”

“So you’re not even out of school yet!”

“Castle Town has a school.”

“So you want to go to school in Castle Town while I’m in training all day and pretty much not see me anyway?”

“At least I’ll get to do something.”

Link laughed so hard he went silent, the girl’s chin bopping his ribs painfully with each spasm of his diaphragm.

“What are you laughing at?!”

“Chee… for Hylia’s sake, you’ll just be at a different school!”

“With you.”

“What about Mom?” Link said.

Chee went quiet for a moment, her eyes softening a little, though they still shone like tiger’s-eye. He could tell she was trying not to grimace.

“That is totally your sheepish face trying not to come out,” Link said.

 “Dad leaves her alone,” Chee said quietly. “A lot.”

Link’s smile left him. “No… he doesn’t. Because she has us.”

“You mean me.”

“Yeah, okay… so it’s been you more than me. But do you really want to leave her here while we both go?”

“She could come.”

Link shook his head. He was getting sidetracked. Mom wasn’t really what this was about, and neither was a different school, or Castle Town, or even his sister getting to do more exciting things. “Look, Chee… I know you’ll miss me.”

She grunted and pumped all the air from his lungs with her bony arms (damn she was strong).

“I’ll miss you too. A lot.” He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, hard, but not too hard. He was way too strong for his own good, or hers. “More than anyone,” he whispered.

“Link?”

“No way.”

“Yep.”

“You’re a total mommy’s boy.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t mean my sister can’t be my favorite person.”

“Link, please- answer me!”

“He communes,” the bargainer said, the sound of distance itself as the image of Link’s little sister faded.

The feel of her arms around him remained.

“I agree!” Link blurted.

“What?!” Zelda said, her thumb swiping at a wetness on Link’s cheek.

As the embrace of his innermost self bled from Link, he tripped forward, his arms desperate, seeking to return it. His hands found Zelda’s waist, and his eyes found hers—whatever she saw in them made her hug him tight about his shoulders.

“Link?” she said.

He held her too, unsure how to begin, but any words died on his lips at the sight of blue flame coalescing behind her. He tapped Zelda’s back, taking her by one shoulder and turning her to look.

Two spirits came into slow being before them, veiled in a pale blue glow, their features weaving into existence as patches of light, seamless once in place. Flames licked their feet, one moment there, then gone. They were old women, but as Link watched, their edges shimmered, and they took the forms he knew they would—some hidden heart within him had already known, had felt their shades only in his most dreamless of sleeps, in the darkness with them.

One woman stood almost exactly his height, about forty years old, and looked very much like him. The other had become the girl who’d insisted he stay home with her over a century ago.

How could his waking mind have forgotten them so thoroughly? He really was an insane amnesiac with delusions of heroism. He’d have to be insane to forget people he loved so much.

“Mom. Chee,” he said, and as he did, their tears fell, too. They rushed to embrace him, both at once, and he could feel them, they were real, and his deepest core spoke a wordless vow to offer a gift worthy of the bargainer’s extraordinary blessing.

--

Zelda balanced privacy and caution, wandering the length of the bargainer’s platform, the communion of three always at the corner of her eye, sitting cross-legged, knee-to-knee and hand-in-hand.

She’d known of his mother and sister, but they’d never met. He’d spoken of them only in bare, short spaces, quiet moments when Calamity’s imminence dulled.

How their Hateno home had not brought their memories forth long before now, she didn’t know. She’d sensed, sometimes, as Link stared at a piece of pottery or brushed his fingertips over a length of wood-grain on the banister, some glimmer of their former reality floating near to the surface—but it never emerged.

It’s why she’d delved into the mystery of the Shrine of Resurrection—into the healing spring beneath it in the depths—as though the missing parts of him had drifted into its bed, lying nascent against its darkest earth, far below.

They’d have stopped there again after this, on an ordinary day. She’d have given him her most sincere of smiles as she removed his leather—his bracers, his belts, his boots—her eyes never leaving his. She could feel the way his chest would rise and fall, quickening against the heels of her hands. They’d have entered the water together.

Zelda reached the platform’s edge. Hundreds of feet below, a small cluster of poes huddled in the great chamber’s corner, near the bargainer’s ankle; Zelda wondered that they’d come so close to the guiding statue, yet not found their way to the afterlife.

“They do not wish to cross,” the bargainer said.

Zelda gasped, one hand pressing flat to her chest. It had heard her?

“I can hear only you who stand before me.”

Zelda craned her neck toward the statue’s head, half-expecting it to have turned toward her. It hadn’t. “Not the others above us, then?” she whispered.

“Only you who stand before me.”

Zelda sighed, the bargainer keeping its secrets as always. She centered Link in her vision, speaking quietly with his lost family, so engrossed he’d not spared the statue a glance as its voice sounded.

“I spoke to you alone,” the statue said.

“Oh?” Zelda’s curiosity piqued. “I didn’t realize you could.”

She waited for a response, the spark of excitement slowly fading in the silence.

She oughtn’t have expected anything else. These beings showed interest in nothing but the welfare of the spirits they shepherded. She peered over the railing once more, at the flames flickering far below.

“If I go to collect them, will they come?”

“For you, yes. Undoubtedly.”

“And would they then move on as the others have?”

“Almost certainly.”

She wondered why her carrying them a few hundred feet would change their minds.

“Listen with he who also stands before me. You will understand.”

Zelda’s brow tightened, taken aback and hesitant to simply eavesdrop. She shuffled her feet.

The bargainer remained silent.

She approached the three with great reservation, her hands clasped before her, unwilling to simply insert herself within their conversation. She stopped partway across the platform. Should Link wish to include her, he would—yet he was rapt. He appeared as though drinking in every detail of his mother’s face over and over again. Perhaps he feared a more ordinary forgetfulness would take her from him a second time.

Zelda’s lower lip rose in understanding. Some days, she, too, struggled to see her father’s face clearly. Her mother’s had long been wiped blank.

She gasped, her hand touching the Purah Pad.

Link looked up at the sound, giving her a small smile, and as he did, the spirits looked at her as well, as though only just noticing her presence.

The spirit of Link’s mother smiled wide. “Link! Is she with you?”

Link turned deep crimson, his face twisting in a smiling grimace Zelda had never seen on him.

“Oooh!” his sister said, her face full of mock-scandalization. “Your face, Link. Wow. Is she… with you?” she asked, her eyebrows inching upward.

Link’s rested his face in his hands as the spirit-women giggled at him. Zelda couldn’t help but quirk a smile, herself, though she felt strange. She could not ignore the hesitance in her heart.

Transient.

It would be transient.

Her eyes threatened tears as she watched her lover, watched him be with them as though they yet lived.

Their departure would sink him as his forgetfulness never could have.

It took Link a minute and a few resurgences of giggling to recover enough to peer over his hands at her.

Then he held one out in invitation, turning that smile on her- the one that was for her alone. She drew a steeling breath, her fingers worrying at the pad’s cool surface. “Are you certain?” Zelda asked. “I’ve no wish to intrude.” I’ve no wish to cut your time short.

“I’m completely sure,” Link said, beckoning her toward him.

Her shoe scuffed on the first step and she swallowed, extending her hand. When he took it, his mother’s spirit slid to make room for her. Zelda sat as they did, her knee to Link’s, unable to smile and unsure what to say—though she had no intention of asking questions about the mechanics of spirithood, despite the bargainer’s nebulous words.

Link seemed to sense her uncertainty. He threaded his fingers through hers and moved closer, drawing her hand warm into his lap, his shoulder to hers. Zelda couldn’t help but find his eyes, and though she knew his smile and the squeeze of her hand were nothing but sincerity, a truth to reassure her, the smile she gave held a depth of sadness for the future this would bring.

“That is so a yes,” his sister said, snapping the moment in two. Link’s eyes rolled and fluttered shut, and a small laugh left Zelda’s nose despite her visions of Link falling apart.

“The sky’s sake, Chee,” his mother chuckled. “You lived to be ninety-two. I’d expect you to have matured eventually.”

“Are you kidding? This is my chance to be a kid again. I’ll take it!” The girl smiled at Link, but an intense sadness lay in the core of her eyes, the precise contours of her lips. Zelda recognized its longing.

It was in his mother’s, too. “Link, my little love,” the older woman said, shifting a soft smile between him and Zelda, “why don’t you introduce us?”

Link huffed a laugh and gave Zelda a look so like one he’d given her just before the Calamity struck—on Mount Lanayru—something sad yet loving and utterly immovable all at once. She wondered wildly for a moment exactly how he’d introduce her—for she wasn’t his wife, not yet, but “fiancé” seemed an entirely inadequate word.

Fated. Soulmate. Destined. Those- those began to approach the magnitude of whatever connection had laid between them even from the beginning.

“Mom- Chee,” Link said, his eyes and smile still soft, still on her. “This is the love of my life.” His thumb stroked the edge of her hand. “Zelda.”

She and her smile warmed, his words an anchor to the present. Her free hand curled around his bicep and their foreheads somehow met, though she’d not intended to approach him.

His eyes on hers.

Those calm waters she always wished to dive deep within. They seemed to go on forever, further than Link himself could know, to a place warm, safe, and eternal.

Should she ever tell him so, he would give her his lopsided smile with that deep dimple of his. He would tell her the reverse—that she was his eternal goddess, and he worshiped her—that it wasn’t about him.

But it was about him. She knew it in her deepest self. They two were as one. When it came time for her to pass into the afterlife, she knew she would not go without him.

A sudden understanding drew an aching smile on her face for all the little lights in the darkness.

Though the silence between them bore no tension, its length emerged in her awareness. No irreverent remark issued from his sister; his mother had asked no questions of her. She turned with a flutter of dread, expecting, somehow, the spell to be broken—to see empty space where the spirits had been. Instead, she found their gazes on them, awed.

“What is it?” Link asked softly.

They seemed at a loss for speech. Their eyes traveled all around and above and below them, their hands locked together. His mother’s eyes fell on Zelda’s, and his sister’s on Link’s.

“It was you,” his sister said.

Link shook his head. “What was?”

“You… shine,” his mother said, her voice like a whisper in a cathedral. “Together. Like- the light of a thousand Suns.”

Link turned as though searching for that light himself. “Zelda does- she shines with her magic.”

 “No, Link. Both of you,” his sister said, shaking her head hard, her eyes shut for a moment. She opened them, squinting at Zelda. “I see you both ways right now. Before, I didn’t have eyes, not anymore. I do now, and I can see you sitting there, but I could see you before, too. You… you were the lights. You…” she gestured at them, her palm wide, “are the lights.” She swallowed. “Mom? Same for you?”

“Yes,” the older woman breathed. “Yes. I thought- Link, I’d thought the light had led us to you. I felt- so happy to finally be with you again. My little boy-“ tears slipped down her cheeks again, and she reached for Link, cupping his cheeks. “I thought- I still don’t understand- I thought I’d outlived you. I kept wishing, and wishing, and wishing in a sea of darkness to find you again.”

“We all thought you died at Fort Hateno,” Chee said quietly.

“But the light didn’t lead me to you,” said his mother with a tearful smile. “The light was you. And…” she smiled at Zelda, “you. And together…” she shook her head.

“Together you get a lot brighter,” said Chee. “Like, a lot. Way more than double.”

His mother laughed. “I don’t have the right words- to tell you- just how beautiful it is. I wish you could see it.”

Link’s sister raised her hand like a schoolchild, her eyes on Zelda, one eyebrow intensely arched.

“…Yeah, Chee?” Link asked cautiously.

“So… are you Princess Zelda?”

Zelda couldn’t help but laugh. “I am.”

Chee gawked and whacked Link’s arm.

“Ow-“

“You landed the Princess?!”

“It’s not-“

“And you didn’t even INTRODUCE her as the Princess?!!”

“Well, I didn’t want to- to-“

“To what, brag?”

“No, it’s just not what’s im-“

“It is so important-“

“Children,” their mother said.

They ceased so completely their hands froze mid-gesture.

The older woman offered her hand, palm up, to Zelda with a kind smile.

She took it, astonished to feel warm skin, no different from anyone else’s, a mere shimmer of blue at the outline setting her apart if she looked hard enough.

“My name is Junilla,” she said, placing her other hand over Zelda’s. “I am so sincerely pleased to meet you, Princess- and overjoyed that my son has found such love in his lifetime.”

Zelda returned the gesture, placing her other hand over the spirit’s. “I am grateful,” she said, “for this chance to meet you. That Link has been reunited with you after all this time…” she took a breath, “is a blessing.” Her gaze rose from Junilla to the eyes of the bargainer. The others’ gaze followed hers.

Chee traced the unfamiliar shapes of the statue’s eyes, a hand worrying in her lap. “How- how much time do we have?”

Junilla’s hand tightened for the space of a pulse around Zelda’s, searching the stone for an answer.

“The- bargainer didn’t say how long we could speak,” Link said softly, suddenly breathing strangely.

“The choice to move on is never mine,” the statue said.

Link blinked. “So- there’s no time limit?”

“I impose nothing. Yet my gift cannot extend beyond these walls.”

Link nodded, his face flat.

--

Ponnick and several Sheikah entered the space several times to check on them, so long they remained below.

They never appeared to notice the two strange women, though the Purah Pad had been able to take their pictures.

When she and Link finally left—at 5:17am according to the Purah Pad—the women faded without even a whisper of sound to two flickering blue flames, resting together beside the bargainer.

They would wait for Link’s father.

He and Zelda would begin their search in the depths beneath Akkala to find him—under the Citadel—though the bargainer warned that spirits may drift or become bound.

“End the final tide of gloom,” the bargainer said. “Only then may they all return home.”

Link seemed to understand.

They kept their appointments in Lookout Landing and Goron City for that morning and afternoon, having skipped their detour to the hidden spring of resurrection in favor of them. Link was unusually subdued as she’d expected, and her heart fell further and further as the day lengthened.

He’d barely smiled at Yunobo’s fist-bump.

He broke down in her arms, as she’d thought he would, at home in their bed, exhausted and shuddering with a grief which should have been foreign to him, as it should be to anyone—yet he had felt it before in lesser magnitude when the spirits of their friends, their allies, had become known to him, one by one and memory by memory, a sudden knowledge of what had been lost.

He’d even grieved over her in this way, for he’d no way to know she would emerge from the Calamity’s innards as a living being.

Zelda could not imagine it.

All she could do was hold him, kiss the crown of his head, stroke his hair, tell him it was alright.

“I am here, my love,” she said. “I am with you, and I shall stay.”

He nodded, unable, for the moment, to speak.

It was days later, the Sun a deep gold resting in a bed of lavender above the stand of trees west of their garden, when Link suddenly took her by the waist with his only-for-her smile and kissed her, gentle and questioning, then deeper as she rose to meet him, passionate, her arms wrapping about his neck, their bodies moving as a single unfettered wave. Her mouth parted from his breathless.

“L- Link,” she said.

He kissed her again, on her jaw—behind her ear.

“Are- you alright?” she breathed despite her body’s insistence that now was not the time to worry.

He breathed a very soft laugh in her ear and pulled back to look in her eyes. His hands left her hips to cup her face.

He spent a very long moment just like that. When he spoke, the sweet summer breeze danced with the sunflowers, his soft voice like its rustle through the birch leaves.

“I don’t want to remember what I’ve lost only to forget what I have.”

Her hand covered one of his, pressing it to her cheek.

“I love you so much,” he said, his smile growing, a joy nestled there despite the shadow always upon his features. A hint of mischief twitched his mouth. “So much we attract poes in the dark.”

A laugh burst from her. “Link- you are indeed the love of my life, but I’d rather thought it was our magic-“

But Link was shaking his head. “Magic, sure, for glowing when we’re alone, but… the light of a thousand Suns? That’s love. I know it.”

A memory burst to her mind’s eye, of a power as though the surface of the Sun itself, flowing from her as her knight clung to the thread of life behind her.

It had been love then. She knew that. Love of Link which had hurled her bodily before him, willing to die in his stead.

She pulled him close and tight—placed a long, gentle kiss on his cheek. He breathed a laugh and nuzzled her hair.

“You are- absolutely right, Link,” she said. “Absolutely right.”

They held each other, quiet, unhurried as the soft changes in the palette of the sky, restful as the setting sun, resting in the place sought by all the little lights far below—that place in Link’s eyes: a far deeper depth than any within this earth, for eternity had no limit.

She ought to have understood it sooner.

The lifetime of the Light Dragon had been a mere blink of an eye.

Link would love her far longer.

It wasn't transient.

Nor was his love for his sister, his mother, or his yet-unfound father. What resurrection had taken from him in life would have been found beyond the bargainer's crossing, just as she and Link would follow each other to the spirit realm, to whatever lay beyond.

Some well deep within herself whispered in the language of forgotten memories, a truth woven of silent echoes, veiled shades of her many selves passing through her as a thick-muffled feeling—and in that moment, safe and warm in Link’s arms, she felt they had done so before. Over and over again, passing in and out of death and life and realms and voids and time together, and always each other’s light.

She looked at Link, eyes and mouth wide open in a sort of shock, as though seeing him for the first time—as though just having remembered him.

“Zelda?!” He ducked, flickering from feature to feature of her face, his thumbs brushing tenderness on her cheeks and temples. “What is it? Are you okay?”

“Oh- oh yes,” she said, her voice shuddering. Her next smile glowed, for him and only him, all else in reality falling from her present. “I love you, Link.”

He grew a smile to match hers and then some. “You sound surprised,” he said with a chuckle.

She took his face in her hands and kissed his mouth, softly, full of reverence, and it felt like a first time. Link’s palm came to rest flat on the table beside her, pressing hard, bracing himself against a force Zelda felt, too, and welcomed—a compulsion to rejoin, to reunite. A shocking elation flooded her that he was wholly him, that he carried no spectre of an ancient king, no matter how benevolent, by his side, and she surged forward against him, delving, caressing: worshiping.

Her kiss released by a hair’s breadth, the heat of their lips a promise of imminence. Link’s heart raced against her elbow where it met his chest. “Z- el,” he said, utterly breathless, even more than he’d made her.

“I’ve always loved you,” she said, her voice quiet’s paramour. “And I always will.”

He stood before her, an avatar of adoration, every aspect of his being focused on her, the softness in his eyes unlike any she’d seen outside those moments he watched her at pleasure’s height. He brushed his lips to hers—not a kiss: a caress.

“You understand,” he said.

She kissed him again, her hands carding through his hair, thrilled when his eyes fluttered shut. She pulled back, a pause. “I do, now.”

“Forever,” he said.

“Through death and life again,” she answered.

In bed that night, Link slept soundly, his arms wrapped around her and his head resting on her chest. She sat partway up against the pillows, stroking his hair and thinking in a way she hadn’t in her waking life: a thinking more like feeling—more like acceptance.

This life was a gift.

A time to feel with skin, with heart and blood.

A time to be separate.

Not because they wished to be—but because it made their reunions that much more joyful.

And when it came time to fade from the physical, there would be nothing to separate them. They would be as one.

Death was not the end.

Birth was not the beginning.

And love…had neither.

She held Link a little tighter, smiling at his sleeping grumble, and closed her eyes.

[frankiesbugs]

I've finished Tears of the Kingdom and as a long time Legend of Zelda artist and fan it's my duty to share an unsolicited and unnecessarily verbose opinion about it.

"What's your feeling about it?" I was asked a few times today.

Mixed feelings.

On one side I enjoyed the gameplay a lot, I had a lot of fun, I love the character design, the temples, the Yigas, eccetera eccetera.

But on the other side, the incoherence between TotK and BoTW are countless, and the story is a disaster.

First of all, it's not a story that works through the memory system. It leaves the playable character out of the scenes, and it's not a story that works well when fragmented in such manner.

The temples: I liked them, I liked the puzzles and the bosses, but they lack environmental storytelling, which is a characteristic of Zelda games I've always appreciated.

The depths: WHERE IS MY UNDERGROUND CITY AND CIVILIZATION WHY IS IT SO EMPTY.

Then I'm highly disappointed by the way the Gerudos are treated in the story. I would have loved to see some of them siding with their king, or at least acknowledge him, but it seems they don't give a damn? That was my biggest disappointment during their quest.

Last point I will cover otherwise this post will become ridiculously long: the Legend. In all Zelda games you have a cutscene, a scene, in which a legend is told. In Breath of the Wild it was the ancient Calamity, in a Link to the Past it was the war for the Triforce, in Ocarina it was the deities, in Twilight Princess the interlopers, and so on and so on. This element is missing in Tears of the Kingdom.

There's no Legend in this Zelda.

Anyway yeah the game is fun.

[master-k0hga]

| I do not appreciate that people seem to be 100% on wanting to kill my banana wife on that latest poll, and to those who have voted "kill" shall be warned..

This is now personal

I do not condone the high demand to kill my wife thank you very much...

/hj

Anyways-

So I usually wait a while til either I've completed a few OC refs and maybe some fan art before I get on with my art spam, but for the last week and a bit I decided to rear my ugly head back to Twitter where I've been a degenerate mess for my love for Kohga over there and seemingly attracted a few people on a similar scale as me

To which is fine, I am happy with that along with just messing around and such is all... But it also means I haven't REALLY been drawing all that much... Or well to my usual speed and pace...

And cuz obviously....

I'm fucking selfshipping my fcking WIP of a Zelda sona with said banana muffin I like to call my wife- So therefore I'M NOT REALLY DRAWING BESIDES THE COUPLE OTHER FAN ARTS IN MY DRAFTS RN-

Not even OC refs, one is taking me forever cuz my attention span is just NOT . THERE atm ... And now being an obsessed stalker of a fan for a fictional character has kinda like distracted me from what I have been doing for months now, so I am just,,,,,,

Not in the rhythm of anything ,,, I've lost the plot my brain is kapoot!

.... So anyways Zeldasona goes by the name Ashii or "Mimic" and he / they / I T takes the form of what he vaguely remembers a Yiga/Garo mix would potentially not look like.... Only cuz I T ' S a shapeshifting T H I N G but is in love so oh well-

Anyway- That's all you're getting from my tired brain, I'm going to a convention tomorrow and I need to sleep.....

Art spam Idk gimme another month maybezzzzzzzzzzz...... . ..... . .. . . .. .... . . . . ...

. Art © Me . DON’T RE-POST .

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

sorry for bugging you with asks XD but I remembered I want to commend you on using “impa” as a title and not a name. I think it’s super cool subtle worldbuilding (the best kind) and I am inviting you (at gunpoint) to please lore dump about it bc I am fascinated like a cat with a spider

0-0 DONT SHOOT

Anyways, as the saying goes, “good writers imitate; great ones steal.” And I stole this concept from an ao3 writer who posted a story that included Zelda as a given name for all queens and princesses of Hyrule. As in, it had once been a real person’s name, but over time had turned into something like a title, because every royal was naming their daughters after the original bearers of wisdom. I’ll look tomorrow and see if I can find the original fic, but my bad memory and lack of an ao3 account before a few months ago may make that impossible.

I basically extrapolated this idea to Impa, with the tweak that it’s a title that is earned rather than given/inherited. I made this choice because

A) sounds cool—I too am a sucker for subtle lore and

B) I wanted to get a head start on emphasizing Wild’s not so stellar relationship with authority figures, especially when it comes to his past soldier self. By removing any smidgeon of familiarity/friendliness of Wild calling her Impa as a name, I hoped to highlight their superior/subordinate roles, especially in Wild’s eyes (and perhaps not in Impa’s). This is about to be expounded upon in my Prologue fic The Yiga and The Sheikah, so no spoilers here ;)

You’re not bugging (heh bug—spider) me with the asks please keep them coming, I appreciate them dearly, my dear @somer-writes

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Monarch Anon: Something I wanted to add. The reason I've ask is because I've been seeing this argument since Tears of the Kingdom got released. Fans believe that the game (and the previous other games) give a pro-monarchist/imperialism message. They also think that Zelda bringing back the monarch system is stupid because they blame that system for her not awaking her powers, or that Hyrule survived a century without it so there's no point to bring it back

Another thing: People used the Yiga's existence as a justification as the ultimate proof that Hyrule Monarchy is bad/untrustworthy because they've been around for 10,000 years. (Basically like 'if they royals are good why is the Yiga still around huh?!"). Like I'm sure that the Yiga seen in BotW/TotK are not the same people as their founders 10k years earlier. I'm willing to believe when they first formed, the Yiga were prolly the equivalent of a civil rights group wanting legit respect. Fans need to realize that 10,000 is a long time. Long enough for a group's ideals to get twisted. I headcanon that when the Royals & Sheikah did reconcile, some sane Yiga members probably rejoined Hyrule, while the more bitter members remained and became the clan we see them now

And thats it...Sorry bringing this onto you. I've been wanting to express this for a while but I do not want to post it publicly out of fear of being attacked/blocked and accused of being pro-monarchist.

Sounds like these people would blend in well with the Star Wars fandom in the whole “I Take This Fictional Media Way Too Freaking Seriously and I’m Gonna Make that Everyone’s Problem.” 🙄 There’s a reason I don’t interact with the SW fandom. Let them block you, lovely, then you don’t have to deal with them. 👍🏻

Anyway, yes, 10K years is an insanely long time. Just look at our own history. People really don’t appreciate how much time Nintendo puts between games and eras, Hyrule is older than this planet I think LOL. Either that or their years are super short 😂 I agree with your idea about the Yiga - had a legit reason to be upset initially, but the millennia corrupted it and the initial reason for it is long since resolved. They’re just insane cultists now.

[links-in-time]

Links in Time : The Beginning of Something

Part 11

Notes.

I am so loving writing this fanfic. In truth I've almost finished it and I'm just resisting posting the whole thing in one big dump! I have fallen in love with my OC and their relationship with Wars is going to begin to develop a bit in this update so if you are a Warriors Stan there is a lot more of your boy to come.

"You know if it was just me I would have climbed up Mount Hylia and paraglided down into Gerudo Canyon Pass," Wild informed the others as he crunched down on an apple. "Much quicker than this." He said through a mouth full of apple.

They had left Gartan and Karu on the plateau. Gartan had said that there were more old hideouts where Yiga could still be operating from. He and Karu wanted to eradicate the Yiga from Hyrule as much as possible. Before Maari and the boys left camp however, Gartan clutched at Wars sleeve as he passed by.

"You will all keep her safe, won't you. I trust my daughter too look after herself, but she can sometimes be impulsive. Will you try and protect her?"

Wars looked down at the hand gripping his sleeve, then up at Gartan's face. He didn't know much about familial love, or the concern of a father for his child. But Wars could see it in the man's face, his eyes imploring.

"We will. I will try to keep her safe. I promise." Wars assured him, nodding his head.

Walking back down from the plateau the way they had come Wars thought about the promise he had made. He hadn't told the others yet. He would have to wait for a moment when Maari was out of earshot. Something told him Maari wouldn't appreciate the idea of being watched over. But her father was right. She was impulsive. But Wars kind of liked that about her.

"Except you're not on your own and none of the rest of us have gliders, so we have to take the long way around," Time replied to Wild's earlier comment.

Wind groaned at the thought of more walking. Sky patted him on the back comfortingly.

"I'm sure it's not much further to the desert," he said brightly.

"Oh no it's still a long walk. We have to get around the north side of the plateau. Then cross the suspension bride, then make our way along the canyon. And then cross the desert," Wild replied.

Wind's face fell and his head dropped.

"Come on kid," Twi slapped him on the shoulder. "Just one foot in front of the other and we'll be there in no time!"

Spirits were high as they followed the roads leading to the canyon entrance. Wild pointed out the colleseum on top of the hill where he had fought a great Lionel. As well as the construct camp where newly repurposed constructs were helping to build a new stable.

As they approached the suspension bridge the day was starting to drag behind them. Midday was approaching and Wild knew they still had a long way to travel.

"Once we reach the canyon, how far to Gerudo Town?" Four asked.

"It'll probably be night by the time we reach the desert gateway. There's a stable at the end of the canyon. We could spend the night there." Wild suggested.

"I heard it's better to travel the desert at night. It's cooler at night and I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't have any elixers with me to help with the heat." Maari pointed out.

"Is that right?" Time asked. Wild paused in his tracks.

"I didn't think about that. I usually change clothes or use elixers to deal with the desert heat. I hadn't thought about the rest of you, sorry" Wild apologised.

"It's okay," Twi remarked. "Maybe it would be a good idea for us to travel at night."

"You mean, no sleep?" Sky groaned.

"You saying a knight of skyloft can't go a night without sleep?!" Legend teased.

"Hey, just because I like my sleep doesn't mean I can't go one day without it. I only meant that without rest after all this walking we might not all be on top form." Sky reiterated for the others.

"It's only one night of walking. We can rest when we get to Gerudo town," Wild assured them.

"It might still be a good idea to stop at the stable. Someone there might have seen the Yiga come through recently." Maari suggested.

They agreed to stop at the stable and take a short rest before nightfall. Maari couldn't wait to see the desert. She had read many tales about the Gerudo women and the vast sea of sand which lay beyond the mountains. She had heard about the terrible Molduga that roamed the sands stalking their prey from below. The amazing sand seals and how the Gerudo would ride them. Mostly she was excited to meet the Princess Riju. She had heard a lot about her from Paya, but the clan leader had only spent a short time with the princess and only had a few tales to tell.

"Wild, you've met Princess Riju haven't you?" Maari asked, as the group meandered along the canyon.

"Met?! We fought together against the Demon King. We went through a lot together. Riju is extraordinary." Wild replied, his eyes turning wistful with memory.

"Do you think she'll let you all into her city?"

"Hmm, hard to tell." Wild lowered his voice so only Maari could hear. "Don't tell the others but I ussually to have to disguise myself to get into Gerudo Town."

"You mean you dress as...? Maari asked, but Wild hushed her.

"Shh, not so loudly. They'd only tease me relentlessly."

"Well I think that's cruel. You found an ingenious way to sneak in without being detected. I'd say that's pretty smart," Maari encouraged him.

"Thanks," Link uttered, a slight blush flushing his ears.

"I bet you're looking forward to seeing Zelda again. How long has it been?" Maari asked cheerfully.

When she turned to look at Wild however his smile had disappeared.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine," he said curtly.

"Are you?"

"It's nothing. It's just... You're right it's been a while since I've seen Zelda. A lot's changed in a short amount of time. I don't think I'm the same man I was a few years ago. And I'm not sure Zelda is the same anymore either. I guess..." Wild seemed to struggle to find any more words.

"Are you nervous about seeing her?" She asked, laying a hand on Wild's shoulder.

"I guess so."

"Do you mind if I ask, we're you two... We're you ever a couple?" Maari asked cautiously. Link sighed and turned his gaze skyward.

"After we defeated Ganon and saved Hyrule from the calamity, we were just so happy to have each other back safe. We did a lot together after that. Then when Zelda disappeared again, I nearly fell apart. My quest kept me going and so did my friends. But when I got her back again something was different. I don't know how else to describe it. I just, I hope we can still be friends."

***

There were a few travellers at the stable when the group arrived. Some researchers looking to deliver some more items for Zelda, a hunting party who claimed they had been paid handsomely to slay a Molduga and come back with its teeth, as well as other travellers on the road.

Since there were still a couple of hours until sundown the gang decided to take the weight off their feet and rest around the stable until nightfall. Wild cooked up some supper for them all while Maari went to talk to the stable keeper.

"Excuse me Sir, I was wondeiring if there have been any Yiga sightings recently. Or stories of anyone nearby going missing?" She asked, leaning against the counter.

"Yiga ey? Hmm, can't say I've seen any myself. Then again they could have walked right by in disguise and I wouldn't have known it." The man replied, stroking his goatee as he thought.

"I suppose that's true," Maari sighed.

"Though some folks came through a couple days ago, said one of their party had disappeared on the road. Walked into the woods to relieve himself and never came back again. Damn shame if you ask me. Hyrule was just starting to feel safe again. Now there's talk of monsters lurking about too," the man shook his head in dismay.

"Hopefully my friends and I can do something about it and make you feel safe again Sir," Maari tried to assure him.

She thanked him for the information and strolled away from the stable. Wars, sky and Twi were sitting on a collection of boulders a short distance away. Maari walked over to join them and watch the last of the sunlight disappear into the west.

"Hungry?" Twi asked, holding up a few slices of bread filled with cheese and salad leaves. "Wild made you a sandwich, or that's what he calls it. He said you would probably be vegetarian so he didn't put any meat in it."

"That's very thoughtful, thank you Twi." Maari took the sandwich gratefully and took a few bites.

Sitting down between Sky and Wars on a sandy boulder Maari gazed into the hazy light filling the canyon. The sun had almost disappeared but the heat of the day still radiated from the sand beyond.

"Any of you ever crossed a desert before?" Asked Maari.

"I have, couple of times," Sky replied. "Didn't like it one bit. It was unbearably hot, sand gets in places you don't even want to know about. And don't get me started on the crazy monsters that like to live there."

"Sounds charming!" Maari replied sarcasticly.

"Good thing you suggested crossing at night Mar," Wars remarked. "You were right, hardly any of us are equipped for desert travel. I've already ditched my armour and mail. Feel cooler without it already."

"Heck of a lot less safe though," Twi pointed out. "We get attacked by something you better watch your back."

"Wind barely wears any protection, I don't see you fretting over him," Wars replied, gesturing in the younger hero's general direction.

"Yeah well Wind isn't as clumsy as you. He's smaller and nimble too," Sky pointed out. Wind or Maari could out manoeuvre Wars or a bokoblin any day." Sky nodded.

"You reckon?!" Asked Wars, raising an eyebrow as he gave Sky a sly smile.

"What do you think Maari? You've fought beside the Captain, do you think you can take him?" Twi asked, barely disguising the eagerness in his voice as he joined their conversation.

"What d'you say Mar? We've still got a little time until sunset."

Wars turned his teasing gaze on Maari and for the first time she clicked the nickname he had given her. She wasn't sure she liked it but she didn't dislike it either. Perhaps a little friendly bout would help her decide.

"Alright pretty boy, you're on. Come and show me what you've got!" Maari encouraged him, getting to her feet and walking over to where there was a more open space away from the stable.

"Wait, what?!" Wars stammered, a little taken aback that Maari had actually accepted the challenge.

"You heard her Cap, go show the lady what you've got," Twi teased, punching Wars on the shoulder.

Wars looked to his left at Sky, but the other hero just shrugged. Wars sighed, but quickly hardened his expression. He drew his sword and shield, leaving the reast of his gear with the others.

"Alright then, what are the ground rules?" Wars sighed, as he approached Maari, adjusting the straps on his shield.

"First to draw blood?" Maari suggested, only half joking.

"How about we avoid shedding any blood and just try to disarm the other or get inside their defences?" Wars suggested, trying to be a little more pragmatic about the situation.

"Agreed. Don't hold back Captain, I certainly won't."

Maari drew her sword and held it out to the side, lowering her stance as she waited for Wars to be ready. As the light began to fade and the lamps around the stable were lit, Maari and Warriors faced off against each other. Time, Wild and the other heroes joined Twi and Sky to watch what was happening.

"What are those two up to?" Time asked, taking a swig from his water-skin.

"Maari challenged Wars to a duel," Sky announced.

"He goaded her into it s'more like it," Twi corrected.

"Suppose it's good for us to have a little friendly competition from time to time," said Hyrule.

"How about a friendly bet too?" Legend suggested.

Though some of Wars' moves were predictable, Maari wasn't used to facing an opponent with a shield. It made him much more difficult to attack, and he kept using it to try and knock her off balance. He was surprised by just how quickly she could move. One moment he was about to swing his sword at what he thought was an opening, then she would duck and spin away from his attack. And each time she would retaliate with a strike of her own that he would barely have time to block. Lunging attacks were no use as she parried them easily, however he found that if he kept his shield up and his weapon tighter to his body, he gave her fewer opportunities to attack.

This technique worked brilliantly. Until Maari decided she had had enough of Wars slamming his shield into her back. Dropping low she kicked upwards and to the side, knocking Wars' shield from his grip and sending it spinning across the sand.

"Damn it!" He shouted.

Maari's move earned some cheers from the crowd which had gathered to watch the fight. The other Link's were all rooting for their favourites, shouting out suggestions for moves and counter moves.

"What's the matter captain, can't hide behind your shield any more."

"Dont need it," he huffed. Suddenly remembering the promise he had made to Maari's father about keeping her safe. He wasn't sure if this counted or not. "I don't need it to beat you."

"We'll see about that."

Wars now held his sword in two hands, throwing extra power and precision into his swings. Maari had to adapt slightly and also used both hands on her katana. So far as the audience could tell they were pretty well matched. They came together with a clash of steel, blades grinding together as they battled for control of the lock. Their faces were inches apart, eyes locked onto each other's.

"You want to surrender know and save yourself the embarrassment of me beating you?" Maari asked between breaths.

"I'd rather you beat me fair and square. Wouldn't you?" He asked.

Maari noticed he asked the question without his usual note of humour. Wars was being serious. He was taking this fight seriously, which meant he took Maari seriously too. Maari smiled a little but the surprise change in her opponents deminour distracted her enough that Wars managed to hook his hilt under her guard. With a quick twist of his wrists Wars flicked the blade out of Maari's grip and it went spinning away before clattering to the ground. Wars grabbed her right arm and held her close as he brought his blade up to her throat.

"Close, but I'm afraid I think I win this one Mar," he sighed, smiling as he tried to slow his breathing.

"I think I'd call it a draw," Maari replied.

Wars frowned then Maari glanced down at his chest. He followed her gaze to find one of her ring daggers in her left hand, pointing straight at his heart.

"Ah, I see your point. A draw?"

"A draw," Maari agreed.

Carefully they each withdrew their weapons and collected their fallen items. Maari sheathed her sword while Wars checked for dents in his shield. They returned to the crowd and were surprised to hear people clapping and congratulating them both.

"So not even a Sheikah warrior is a match for a legendary hero," Legend boasted, crossing his arms and beaming from ear to ear. "Alright, all those who picked Maari, pay up!"

"You placed bets?" Wars asked, wishing he was surprised by the Vet's behavior.

"And now five of them owe me money," Legend confirmed.

"I'm afraid it was a draw Legend," Maari informed him.

"Wait, five?" Wars asked, also crossing his arms. "Five of you bet Maari would beat me! Alright, who are the traitors?"

Maari watched as Wars visibly put back on his mask of brovado and questioned his friends in his usual joking manner. Bashfully, Twilight, Sky, Four, Time and Wild raised their hands.

"Really?" Wars whined.

"Oh come off it," Twi countered. "You thought she was gonna beat you. I could see it in your eyes."

Wars looked a little bashful and a little flush rose in his cheeks. Maari decided to save him from any further abuse. She laid a hand on his shoulder and addressed the gang.

"It was a very close fight. I've rarely fought anyone outside Kakariko, so it was a challenge for me. The Captain is a skilled fighter. I'd certainly rather have him by my side in a battle than on the opposing side."

At last the sunlight faded and the group stood silhouetted by lantern light, preparing to make their nightime desert crossing.

< Part 10 : Part 12 >

[a-pale-azure-moon]

Random TotK Thoughts #2

I've gotten a bit further, having completed one regional phenomenon, found a few more dragon's tears, and done some sidequests and exploring. I am having so much fun!!!

Specific things under the cut just to be safe.

-Something I forgot to mention in the first post, but how awesome is it that your horses carry over? I love that the devs included this little bonus. I spent so much time catching horses in BotW just for fun, so it's extra nice having all of my favorite ponies around for another tour of Hyrule.

-Where did Zelda find that gold horse though? How does a gold horse even exist in the first place? It even looks metallic with the way light refracts off of its coat. Bizarre. xD

-Penn's "Soar Long!" is the best/worst catchphrase ever.

-The journey up to the Wind Temple was great. Just climbing higher and higher, using the islands as "stairs" to reach the eye of the storm. I can't say I was very impressed with the dungeon itself though; it's an improvement over the Divine Beasts in terms of design, as it feels like it has its own identity rather than just repeating the same aesthetic as the shrines, but the puzzles and layout were very basic and once again, the goal was to activate five things. It's still a downgrade from a more traditional Zelda dungeon.

-I did like having to fuse a giant icicle to a broken handle though. That was a neat idea. And the Colgera boss fight was good and very fun, if a bit easy. I'd rate the whole sequence as like, a B overall, i.e. good but still has room for improvement.

-Tulin is cute as heck and his skill is useful. His headshots are even more useful (except when the enemy falls off an edge and I lose the drops, which has happened a lot). I've still found myself missing Revali's Gale a little though. :/

-I killed my first Frox in the depths on my mission to get Autobuild. It was almost completely dark since I hadn't found the next Lightroot, so it took me a minute to notice the ore deposits on its back. I kept shooting its eye and wondering why it was barely doing any damage, lol.

-Imagine my surprise when I ran into a Yiga down there, and then when Kogha showed up. I like how this is a "logical" way for him to have survived his confrontation with Link back in BotW. And that he's still an idiot who's easy to beat.

-Did Link just give Zelda his house in Hateno? (Also, I appreciate that the photo from the Champion's Ballad is still on the wall. Another nice little continuity touch.) Interesting though that the table is set for two but there's only one bed....

-After I visited Robbie at the lab and got the shrine sensor (finally), whom did I see casually flying by but Naydra! And man....I'm so psyched that you can actually land on the dragons now. I hitched a ride on her for quite awhile, and it helped me reach a couple of towers and scout for some other points of interest. And I harvested a few of her parts too, of course.

-I was surprised to discover that she goes into the depths (I assume Farosh and Dinraal do as well). I almost fell off when she started diving and then I realized we were entering a chasm. Neat!

-Also, I love how her body undulates as she flies, and she makes this soft purring/growling sound too. It's the little details like this that make the game world feel so real and immersive.

-Knowing now that Mineru tinkered with the Purah Pad in the distant past, I'm getting a headache trying to figure out if Sheikah technology derived from Zonai technology, or if it's actually the other way around because of time travel shenanigans.

-Also, you can't tell me that Zelda, the massive history nerd, didn't take at least one selfie with her great-great-great-great (etc) grandparents and many, many pictures of ancient architecture and technology while she was in the past. Somewhere on the Purah Pad is a hidden file filled with hundreds of photos that she took. Change my mind!

-I have a mighty need to know how Rauru and Sonia met and what their courtship was like. This two second interaction in Memory #2 begs for elaboration.

(She hit him with a closed fist! The look he gives her just sends me, and then he rubs the spot afterwards like it bruised.)

-I like how Sonia's reaction to Zelda is basically, "I'm taking her home with me and adopting her."

-I'll confess to my idiocy that I didn't immediately notice that Rauru has three eyes; I thought its lid and lashes were part of his facial markings (tattoos?) until I looked more closely. Does he keep it closed by choice or does it only open as a reflex in certain situations? I'm guessing the latter since Mineru's third eye is closed as well.

-It's funny to me that he literally has hair down to his heels and his sister's hair is cropped so short it's almost unnoticeable under her ears and visor. xD

-Also, bless the animators for actually using Rauru's magnificent ears to show some of his emotions. The way they twitched in Memory #3 made me grin so much.

-I think I've figured out what the major plot twist of this game's going to be. It can't be a coincidence that Mineru mentioned a forbidden power of draconification and that there was a dragon that flew right next to the Great Sky Island to allow Link to descend to Hyrule, can it? Hmm...

[x-authorship-x]

ID BE TOTALLY UP TO HEAR MORE DESCRIPTIONS BUT ALSO I AM LESS SKILLED AT DRAWING CLOTHES AND HUMAN BODIES IN GENERAL. I DONT THINK I WOULD DRAW ANYTHING BIG, MAYBE SOME SKETCHES, BUT I WOULD STILL BE DOWN TO HEAR AS MANY DESCRIPTIVE WORDS AS YOU CAN SAY. I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!!

-RAINBOW TEXT ANON

Hahahaha no pressure, absolutely no pressure! You don't have to show me or anyone your art if you don't want to! I just wanted to offer because I talk about it more in the later chapters and I can't update right now...

I'll try not to waffle too much?

So you've got the mask down pat but the 'hood' that covers his hair and connects to his suit is connected directly to the edges of the upper half of the mask, so that his curls are completely covered and no one can grab it off. When the upper mask is pushed back, it pushes into his hair and therefore pushes the hood as well, yeah? The lower mask is connected to the neckline of his suit, which comes up over his chin a bit (like Tenzo's top in Canon) so, when he takes that mask off, it drops to sit on his collarbone.

The suit is inspired by several things

ANBU uniform:

The Yiga-Sheikah from The Legend of Zelda: (Yiga on evil vibe tbh lol)

And also thinking about Spider-man and MCU combat gear, etc etc

So I didn't want any loose fabric, because Shisui would absolutely think of getting yoinked by it (your hood is cool AF tho), and the whole thing has to be bullet resistant and stab proof because hello Yakuza AU

The whole thing is a very dark blue (darker than Jounin uniform blue, for sure) with red bracers on his forearms and shins, elbow and knee supports, and small bits of white (like the spider in the middle of the fuinjutsu-like circle, and white built-in knuckledusters that low-key look like bone lol). He has nunchucks strapped to his right thigh and his feet-covers (idk if you can say supersuits have shoes) are tabi.

This is deffo a bit hairbrained, I keep altering my design because things keep creeping into the WIP, but hopefully somewhat coherent?

God I hope Tumblr lets me post this without eating it

[zartophski]

I'm very intrigued by 'Wars jumped in the market' and 'Twi and Wars at the Ball' 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

I have been wrangling wars jumped in the market for a full year now hfgshdjh I've rewritten this one three times now and I'm still not happy enough to post it but damn do I want to.

A cloaked figure stepped between him and the man, blocking his view. Warriors blinked in surprise, hand wrapping around his abdomen as he shifted to look up at them. The familiar embroidery on the back told him who his savior was, even if their face was hidden behind their hood. 

Wild’s attention was solely on the man, shoulders drawn up and ready to pounce once more at a moment’s notice. The man’s glare lost a bit of its heat as he caught sight of Wild’s expression. His eyes flicked over him briefly, no doubt taking in the impressive scarring on his face. Warriors couldn’t see it, but he had a good guess as to the sight the man was faced with. It was probably the same look he’d given the Yiga assassin they’d encountered in his era. It was the look of a defensive predator, curled lips and a murderous gaze. The man flinched, scrambling back under the weight of it. The ferocity of Wild’s wrath was not something Warriors ever wanted to be on the receiving end of, nor was it something he wanted to witness in full.

“How dare you,” Wild seethed, tone venomous. He stalked a step forward, hand hovering over his Sheikah Slate.

And for Twi and Wars at the Ball, it's a classic "forced to attend a ball" featuring Twi having a couple panic attacks and Wars being the one to try and help.

“Ugh,” Warriors groaned, tugging his scarf a little looser as he stepped up beside Twilight. “It always gets so hot in that ballroom. You doing alright?”

Twilight couldn’t stop the weak chuckle that bubbled from his chest. Warriors grinned at the honestly pathetic noise. “That good, huh?”

“Just not really my idea of a good time.”

“Fair enough,” Warrior shrugged. “Come on, there’s a door over this way that takes us back inside.”

Twilight frowned, though the Captain couldn’t see it as he turned to lead the way. Twilight would much rather stay outside, where the cool night air and the soft light of the moon provided the relief he knew he wouldn’t find in the ballroom. But luck wasn’t on his side this evening, and he supposed he should appreciate the breath of fresh air while he could. “Who did you need to introduce me to?” Twilight asked, mentally steeling himself. 

“No one,” the Captain said, waving a hand dismissively. “I just said that so she didn’t think I was a total ass.”

[skyward-floored]

For the lack of other ways to comment, I’m just going to ramble about The Chase scene here.

I really like how you balanced humor with the tension in a way that didn’t take away from the tension too much and how you managed to have the different Link’s characters shine through despite it being a relatively short scene. Also, I’m not sure how competent the yiga generally are in COA, but this snippet made me realise how scary and or threatening they could actually be as antagonists. I think them actively hunting down the Links makes for a very interesting plot

Anyways, thanks for sharing!

Bjfahhdjhdfhf my head is fuzzy and words are not coming very fast but thank you so much!! 😭 I was having a lot of fun writing the humor in it hehe

The yiga are... hmm, I’d say semi-competent in coa? I’ve mentioned that they have a new leader after the events of botw, and while the kingdom was fairly convinced they’d sort of just disbanded, they were secretly reequipping themselves and training themselves up for this new endeavor, and are definitely tougher than the yiga you fight in botw.

...But they’re still the yiga clan. They still get distracted by bananas. They’re still kinda dumb sometimes. They’re just a bit more personally motivated and deadly than they were previously, with a leader who knows a bit more of what they’re doing.

And thank you for reading! I keep saying this, but posting basically-ocs is positively nerve wracking for me, and I appreciate anyone reading it at all :)

[smilesrobotlover]

Tell me about Ammon and his coworker! :) What’s their dynamic like, how did they meet, what’s one of their wackiest adventures?

Oh they’re so fun. So with Ammon’s coworker I want him to be from Lurelin. I feel like there’s not enough major characters from Lurelin in these stories (except one guy but I won’t get into him on this post just to avoid spoilers). But yeah he’s a guy from Lurelin and he’s very skilled at spear fighting and throwing. Like his throwing skills are INSANE. He and Ammon are both strong in their own ways basically.

They like to make fun of each other, a lot. It’s all light hearted but they act like brothers all the time. Obviously they need to be professional when in public and around Rhoam, but honestly Rhoam sometimes gets involved in the shenanigans, but that’s mostly after the calamity happens since Rhoam was not vibing that entire time lol. Basically they’re all pretty close but Ammon and his coworker are brothers.

Idk where this came from but I did have a thought that Ammon used to have a brother but he was killed by the Yiga or something so I feel like Ammon really appreciates his coworker for that.

I might change Ammon’s story a tad cuz I think they possibly met in an intense battle where they both defended soldiers or something, but idk. They both definitely show their skill and that’s what makes them worthy to be body guards to the king himself. If I don’t like that idea tho then I’ll just have them meet when they become bodyguards lol. But idk I feel like fighting together in a battle and surviving may strengthen their bind so idk.

And idk what adventures they’ve been on but I’ve been thinking about them losing Rhoam and they have to travel with Impa and Kogha cuz I feel like they’d be SO annoyed with Kogha and itd be fun lol. But that’s all I have!

[fioreofthemarch]

One of my works is coming off AO3

I’m (finally) deleting my Breath of the Wild anthology, Hyrule Compendium, and will be reuploading two of the three stories individually. 

I’ve given each one a big edit so they can stand alone. They should go up this weekend. I envisioned so many more stories going into Compendium, but am now excited to give the ones I did write a new look. If you read the original, my appreciation is infinite. 

Some more info on each story and what changed from the originals under the cut.

Where the World Ends - Link and Zelda explore the Lomei Labyrinths and uncover clues that point to their original purpose and the great secret they contain. Minor edits throughout for clarity, to flesh out scenes/descriptions or otherwise improve the flow of the work. 

The Rise and Fall of the Yiga -  A story of the birth and re-birth of the Yiga Clan. Overwintering in Akkala Citadel, the new Master of the Yiga reckons with preserving her people’s culture and finding a place for them in the new world. LOTS of minor edits to make this one standalone, as it is a direct sequel to From the Ground Up. A few changes in key scenes to better describe the Yiga’s dilemma and why they are trying to rehabilitate themselves. 

A Travellers Guide to Hyrule Reborn - twins Mina and Mills Copperblade set out to document the changes to Hyrule in the first twenty years of Zelda’s reign. This work is my unofficial lore bible for what I think would make an interesting post-BOTW setting. I’m going to do a full re-write of it after TOTK comes out, because I think it can be vastly improved to focus more on Mina and Mills’ adventures and also because I think TOTK will give me much more material to work with. The work, as it is now, will be deleted, but can be viewed here if you really want. 

[zeldaelmo]

I posted 1,898 times in 2022

281 posts created (15%)

1,617 posts reblogged (85%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@zeldaelmo

@lozbotwfanart

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@zeldadiarist

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

How about something Pre Calamity? Link getting jealous over the Sheikah poet for saying/doing something that just doesn't sit right with him

Hey there Anon! I hope you like your 400 words of Link vs Sheikah Poet. 😆

This was fun. Big thanks @drsteggy and @zeldadiarist for taking a look at making a few suggestions.

Patience

Link could barely breathe because he used his strength to grit his teeth instead of turning the pretty smile before him into a toothless grimace. 

"A handkerchief with embroidery of a Silent Princess, how attentive!" Princess Zelda sang, clasping her hand around the poet's forearm.

The bastard bowed. "Everything for you, my Princess."

Link's teeth made an alarming noise, and Princess Zelda raised an eyebrow at him. "Anything the matter, Hero?"

He shook his head, turning his gaze skyward. 

No, nothing was the matter. Only that the bastard pretended the token Link had left in her room as a peace offer was his. No wonder she was as cold as White Chuchu Jelly towards him!

Link corrected his stance when the man gave him a self-satisfied smirk. A good warrior had patience. He was the best warrior, his time would come. Focus and wait.

Two months and a gaze shifting from relief to adoration in the desert sands later, everything had changed. 

Everything? No.

She still gushed over the handkerchief when the poet was around, but Link was patient. He would strike soon.

The next day, he remained silent when the poet joined them on her stroll through the garden. Lurking.

"Oh!" Zelda greeted the Sheikah, holding up an Ancient Core. "Is this another gift of yours?"

"Uhm… Yes. I thought you'd like the… pretty… glow."

Link huffed. The idiot didn't even know what it was.

"I love it!" 

And now she did what she always did when she found a new core. She opened it. 

"A hidden message!" She giggled.

"For your research…" Zelda raised her gaze to him. "Yours, Link…"

Link nodded, his grin turning smug.

"It's from you?!"

"Yes."

Oh, the stupid poet had it coming. "You pretended it was — oh, I can’t believe you!" She poked her index on the man's chest and he fled.

Link blushed when Zelda stepped closer and waved with the handkerchief, his smugness dwindling with every inch that shrunk between them. “Is this from you, too?”

"It is, Princess."

"You should have said something!"

See the full post

145 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

#4

164 notes - Posted April 27, 2022

#3

Just a little reminder that the German description of the memory "Blades of the Yiga" translates to this:

"After Zelda declined Link to accompany her to her research about the ruins, the Yiga-Clan attacked her. She fled, but was stalemated. In the very last moment, Link appeared and saved her."

So. Zelda explicitly told him to leave her alone. He disregarded her orders (again) and stayed close enough to get to her in time, but not so close that she knew he was there.

I think that says a lot about his character. He must have followed her to guard her without making himself known or otherwise her desperate flight doesn't make sense. He respected her wish to be alone as long as he could. And she didn't spend her time praying or with other princess duties, but he let her do her research (!) although he probably knew the King wasn't too fond of that.

This way, her surprised and admiring reaction makes a lot of sense, too. Zelda realizes at this moment that he must have been there for quite some time and has gone out of his way not only for her safety but for letting her follow her passion, too.

295 notes - Posted June 3, 2022

#2

Speed-run Link is fun and all, but can we take a moment to appreciate that Link canonically tames the descendant of Zelda's horse? If he completes one of the main quests of the game, finding all memories, a secret cutscene is unlocked where we see them both traveling to Zora's Domain together and Zelda has the white horse with the royal gear.

So when Link remembers Zelda, he hears of the rumor about her horse and invests time to find it. One day in the early morning hours, our hero sneaks through the wet grass to tame a horse for no other reason than to make Zelda happy.

341 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Have you ever wondered about the seemingly random cooking pots in BOTW? Not the ones next to stables or bridges, but sometimes you just mind your business in the wild and stumble over a cooking pot. 

What if these cooking pots are leftovers from a campsite Zelda and Link visited 100 years before? What if the two of them sat exactly here, Link quietly pressing a bowl with stew in Zelda’s hand? At some of them she might have stared into the fire, trying to ignore his looming presence and the sword. But what if it was here where she apologized for being so cold to him after the Blades of the Yiga memory? Or where he reluctantly opened up to her, bonding over a shared meal? She might have called him a glutton exactly here for the first time.

Maybe Link only remembers bits and pieces at first. A snapshot of him at the fire and a glimpse of blonde hair. A smell that comes from the cooking pot that stirs something in him. Later when he’s able to put more together, he seeks them out because he knows a memory will come back to him. It’s not always something good, but often enough, it’s a quiet memory of someone who understands him. Towards the end of his journey he begins to avoid them if possible because they remind him of his loneliness and how lost he is in this big, scary world.

And then, the first thing they do when Zelda is finally free, is setting up camp. Link passes a bowl of stew to Zelda and when their fingers brush, he asks,

“Do you remember?”

377 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

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[arkon-z]

I posted 1,751 times in 2022

That's 67 more posts than 2021!

166 posts created (9%)

1,585 posts reblogged (91%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@lastdovahkiin

@ranger-kellyn

@asexual-society

@ghirahimbo

@artisticzaati

I tagged 1,138 of my posts in 2022

Only 35% of my posts had no tags

#hwaoc - 203 posts

#zelda - 159 posts

#impa - 121 posts

#botw - 118 posts

#link - 111 posts

#age of calamity - 105 posts

#purah - 99 posts

#robbie - 86 posts

#what are queue doing? - 78 posts

#fanfic - 59 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i'm not kidding when i say that version of impa did more good for my self-perception than any post i've ever seen about healthy body image

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

The weak point smash attacks in Age of Calamity are cool enough, but I wish the camera didn't lock the way it does during the animation, because it means we miss seeing details like this:

The Blademasters wave to Kohga after they toss him, which you don't see unless the camera gets stuck at a different angle. Like, that's a fun detail! Why would you hide it where we can't see it?

22 notes - Posted March 5, 2022

#4

Good news! I'm slowly becoming a fan of the Metroid series. This started shortly after I was exposed to the idea that Samus and Pikachu are pals ever since she rescued him in Smash Bros Brawl in the Subspace Emissary story. Which I know isn't part of the Metroid lore, obviously, but it did make me appreciate Samus as a character.

She is an ice-cold, unflinching badass in her games (which I need to finish playing still, so no spoilers) and relies on no one but herself. That said, I love the idea that she has a soft spot for this fuzzy yellow critter with the world's worse case of static. She saw he was in trouble, broke him out with no hesitation because it was the right thing to do and now they're inseparable.

And I know that has nothing to do with Metroid proper, but like I said, it makes me appreciate Samus that much more. That's the power of fanfic, baby.

23 notes - Posted February 18, 2022

#3

Perhaps a spicy take:

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity did more to make Hyrule feel like a populated, living world to me than many of the mainline games.

I'm serious. This version of Hyrule feels like it's full of people, and as you play, you really get a sense that you're helping them out. See, to earn things like health bonuses and attack combos, you have to complete these little text-only quests. On every level where you actually fight enemies, you earn materials, and different quests require specific materials for completion. And all these quests have a little blurb about a task that needs to be done that requires the materials you provide. When you complete the quest, there's another blurb talking about how you helped the people out.

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26 notes - Posted August 6, 2022

#2

Random BOTW headcanon:

Master Kohga faked his death in his fight with Link so he could go back to his nap.

He's not incompetent by any means and is in fact a skilled and powerful warrior. The fight was a sham to get the Thunder Helm out of the hideout so the Gerudo would stop raiding it. His lackeys stole it because it's treasure, but he obviously couldn't just say, "Take it back, you're making it worse around here." After his 'defeat', the rest of the Yiga played along, accusing Link of murder and making their attacks more personal.

In conclusion, Master Kohga is actually very intelligent and despite being the leader of a cult of personality, he watches out for the clan and acts in their best interest at all times.

48 notes - Posted November 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Got cool stickers? Do you get anxious about trying to decide where to stick them? Do they just live on the sticker sheets forever, gathering shameful dust in your drawer?

THERE IS HOPE! I saw this on Reddit.

What you need are magnetic sheets.

Now, take your stickers:

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1,943 notes - Posted March 12, 2022

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