#a zelda who had to deal with the deaths of those close to her and having to be in hiding | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

crescentblossom66 · 3 years ago

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A Corruption in Time

TRIGGER WARNING FOR: BLOOD AND GORE AND MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, WHICH IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL

This is a creepypasta inspired story. For those that don't know, a creepypasta was a scary story about either lost episodes of tv shows or a glitched game, of course they were all made up. The most notable example of a creepypasta was 'Ben drowned' a stroy detailing the horrible things that happened in an allegedly haunted copy of 'The legend of Zelda Majora's Mask'. So I decided to present you with this, have fun reading

I should preface this by saying that I didn't tinker with the game in any way, heck I don't even know how to code or access game files. This all happened with the regular downloadable copy of the game on steam, no mods were installed, as I wanted to experience the game as it was intended, so I have no idea how the game ended up the way it did. I also didn't have any of the DLCs, I wanted to buy them, but the Nyakuza Metro DLC didn't even exist at the time of the events, and I completely forgot about the seal-the-deal DLC.

Alright, now that that's out of the way let me begin to explain the strange things that happened when I decided to download A Hat in Time again after 4 years had passed between me playing it initially.

I was finally setting up my new PC and got Steam back on it to play my favorite games again, when the box art of A Hat in Time caught my attention. I remembered how much fun I had playing this game and decided to redownload it immediately. When it finished downloading, I got a notification that the steam cloud files got corrupted, and that due to this, all my save data was gone for good. Well, I wanted to play the game again from the start anyway, so that wasn't too big a deal. I booted the game and everything went normal at first.

Made in Unreal engine logo, created by Gears for Breakfast, all normal. Hat Kid's ship came and flew by, and the starting menu appeared. I pushed A (I was playing with an Xbox 360 controller, don't think it mattered, but thought that I should mention it regardless.), and I was greeted by...nothing. Normally Hat Kid is supposed to be striking a pose on this screen while you select your save file. I didn't think anything of it, as I hadn't started a completely new file in ages. After selecting File 1, everything played out more or less like it should, aside from the fact that Hat Kid's hat was not on the nightstand and also didn't land on her head like it normally did after she faceplants on the ground. Hat Kid just got up, yawn and went on with the day, unlike me who tried to remember if she got her hat later or something.

Now that I could control Hat Kid, I exited the bedroom and went to the main room of her spaceship. I should mention here that she controlled like normal, aside from the fact that I couldn't use her hat ability, which was kinda bad, as you can probably imagine. I just went up to the screen that showed how far away she was from her home planet, she activated it and then it started to knock on the glass. Without hesitation, I made Hat Kid walk over to the Mafia Goon and the cutscene played. Strangely enough the little “How rude!” Didn't play after she closed the window to stop the Mafia, but the rest played like it should. We lost the time pieces and plummeted down to Mafia Town.

That's when the first real strange thing happen, the title card from the level showed up, it depicts Hat Kid running away from little crows, one Mafia Goon points at her, while another rolls a meat on a bone in her direction, meanwhile Hat Kid turns around afraid, while running away. Now Hat Kid was just...missing, it appeared like they were chasing nothing. This became a theme with all the title cards, Hat Kid was just missing in them.

Nevertheless, I, along with the Mafia Goon, landed in the back alley, Hat Kid struck her normal landing pose and on I was to explore Mafia Town, still hatless. That's when I found out that there were no yarns, no matter where I looked, even places that I KNEW should have one, were completely empty.

I was a little freaked out by that, but thought that it would be a nice challenge to try to play through the game without hat abilities.

One strange thing I noticed was that none of the Mafia Goons would talk to me, not even the ones that played a game with you only to punch you in the face weren't interacting with Hat Kid. Speaking of not interacting, they wouldn't even look at her, Hat Kid looked at them, but they never looked at her, even when I placed Hat Kid right in front of their faces.

Due to me skipping the tutorial, I didn't get Mustache Girl to tell Hat Kid not to stalk her. I wondered if she would have reacted, because what happened at the fountain left me thinking that something was indeed very, very wrong with this game. The cutscene with Hat Kid and the Mafia Goon that had the umbrella played, however he didn't react to Hat Kid and the alien girl just waved her hands in front of his face, equally as confused as I was. He was supposed to push her away, which would have resulted in her snatching his umbrella and pointing it at him, while he freaked out.

First, I didn't remember Hat Kid just waving at the Mafia, even MY memory told me that was wrong. Second, now I was really contemplating just reinstalling the game and trying again, but my curiosity got the better of me. After beating up the distressed Mafia Goon, he dropped the time piece, at least all of that was still normal. I got back to the ship, and had Hat Kid switch on the energy for the kitchen and main room again, which caused the telescope to appear. I entered the kitchen and rotated the camera around to check if anything was wrong in the room, the only thing of note wasn't the surroundings, but Hat Kid herself, she looked a bit...dull in her color scheme later on I'd learn that it was far more serious than that. She also looked distressed like she does when Snatcher appears before her or when the bomb is tied to her.

To make it easier for me to gather my thoughts, and to make it easier to read, I'm going to explain level by level from here on.

Mafia Town Act 2: Barrel Battle

The level started out normal enough, Hat Kid landed near the market, Mustache Girl screamed for help, just as usual. I made Hat Kid move toward the stack of barrels, where the Mafia Goons captured the blonde girl. That was where it turned weird again, the Mafia didn't react to Hat Kid arriving and Hat Kid tapped her foot for a moment, as if she was waiting for something to happen before she just sighed and the cutscene ended. Confused, I simply tried to attack one of the big men, who yelped in pain and then turned as if to look who had attacked him.

I got a cutscene that I didn't even know was in the game, the Goon continued to look around and then spoke.

“Mafia trying to teach lesson, don't interfere...nobody is here, but Mafia got attacked. What's going on?” He looked visibly spooked. Without my button input, Hat Kid attacked the guy that held the red-hooded girl and she scampered off to safety. “Mafia is being attacked by g-g-ghost, AAAHH!” All four just started to run away, that was when I regained control, I chased down the fleeing Mafia Goons and reclaimed the time piece, by beating their leader, which concluded the level. The small scene with Mustache Girl at the end didn't play at all and I was simply brought back to the spaceship.

Now that level confirmed a theory I had from the interaction with the Mafia so far, they seemed to be unable to see Hat Kid. She could still interact with the world around her. Curiously, not much could harm her either, it became more and more clear that whatever it was, was only effecting Hat Kid and not the other characters in the game.

Mafia Town Act 3: She came from outerspace

This level made me question things even more, I thought that with Hat Kid being covered in mud, the Goofy Mafia would just run away form her, likely just seeing the dripping mud, however he didn't react, not even with the mud and the eerie glowing eyes was she able to get a reaction out of him.

Hat Kid seemingly had given up on trying to get the attention of the people around her and the cutscene just showed her looking up onto the platform where you'd get the time piece from the Mafia member. I just decided to go with it and climbed across the banners and platforms until I grabbed the time piece. When I came back to the ship, Mustache Girl didn't show up, not that I could have used her advice anyway, not being able to use hat abilities and all. Hat Kid didn't react to that sequence break at all, however she still had that concerned look on her face, like she knew or felt that something was very wrong.

Mafia Town Act 4: Down with the Mafia!

When I got to the the Mafia HQ, the Goons were still attacking Mustache Girl, without being prompted to do so, I proceeded to attack the Mafia. After I killed the first of them, the others once again panicked, spouting some nonsense about ghosts. Mustache Girl seemed to shiver for a moment before jumping down, “How did they...eh, doesn't matter, time to mess with the Mafia a little.” She walked right past Hat Kid, who only made some kind of pouting noise, while I moved her over to the switches that opened the entrance to the HQ.

Upon entering, I for once wasn't assaulted by the Mafia throwing cans at me for no reason. The cutscene with the Mafia carrying the time piece through the doors still played, so did the rest of the level pretty much. I got the key, opened the door to the freezer, went through the vent, and ended up in the hallway. No Goons were send my way, probably because no one could see Hat Kid approach in the first place. When I arrived I had to attack the Mafia Boss instead of him jumping out of his chair to attack me after giving me a speech about how glorious he was.

“What was that?! Some invisible intruder, wants to pick a fight with me? Alright, let's settle this Mafia style!” With that the fight went more or less the same, dodging his shock attack, jumping over the daggers, getting on top of the Mafia Ball to get a hit in, nothing new. The little interaction between the boss and Mu played out a bit differently, he didn't say anything while Mustache Girl said something about him having lost his marbles for fighting something that wasn't even there. Where was a certain uncertainty in the way she spoke though, as if she was trying to convince herself. After the fight the scene was vastly different though, the Mafia ran away from the unknown entity that just beat their boss into goo, while Mustache Girl only looked at the time piece and...ran away. She didn't pick it up, she only looked at it, and bolted away with a terrified expression on her face. Hat Kid then picked the time-altering object up with a smile and I got brought back to the loading screen.

I wondered how the fifth chapter would play out, now that Mustache Girl didn't know about how the time pieces worked and seemingly started to avoid them entirely. Cooking Cat also didn't show up to talk about relics after I returned back to the ship, but I still remembered that they triggered the purple time rifts.

On that note I will tell you that those and the blue ones hadn't change, so I won't have to go over them.

Mafia Town Act 5: Cheating the race

A level that would normally be all but almost impossible without the time-stop hat, but due to the Mafia not even seeing Hat Kid, I could just snatch it away and didn't have to even play the level. A bit boring if I'm being honest, but I never liked that level that much anyway.

Mafia Town Act 7: The Golden Vault

Another level that played more or less the same, the interesting thing was, that I had tried to select Act 6 before, but somehow I was unable to select it for whatever reason. Instead, I just decided to do Act 7, thinking that maybe I would be able to select it after. Another weird thing that I didn't remember happening in the game was that the alert for a new time rift showed up right after Hat Kid returned to the spaceship. The strangest thing about that rift was that it was neither purple nor blue, it was red.

Still confused, I checked where to find that rift, hoping that I didn't get too vague a picture...looking at you blue alpine skyline rift. It appeared to be on the clock tower, where Mustache Girl normally waits for you to find a way up to her in the tutorial. Easy enough to find I thought, and went there to check out what those red rifts had in store for me.

Now this is probably where you'd think something bad was gonna happen, but those red rifts were actually quite interesting, but something about them was indeed disturbing.

Mafia Town: Red Rift

Hat Kid landed in same out of place zone as with the blue rifts, just some white platforms with water effect, just that the secondary color on the platforms was red instead of blue and so was the background. Next to Hat Kid were a Mafia Goon, the Mafia Boss, Mustache Girl and Cooking Cat. Thinking that maybe I could talk to them and they'd have some interesting dialogue, maybe wondering where they were or something, That wasn't the case, however...I could pick them up. Considering that at the time I didn't even have the DLC that was a bit odd.

Just like in the first DLC, I could make a stack with the characters and it appeared that that was what I had to do for this level. Another thing that I noticed was that all of them were slightly transparent, I wondered why that was at the time, I got my answer later...much later.

So, with my mission now clear to me, I made Hat Kid walk from one platform to the other. It was pretty straight forward until I heard a strange noise and stood still for a second.

That was when I saw something following me. It was about the same size as Hat Kid, and moved similar to her, however it was a bit taller and undefined, and looked more like a jumbled mass of red pixels. It did exactly what I did when I was in the position it was in, if I jumped over a gap, so would it. For simplicity's sake I will refer to this...pixel mess as Red Kid.

Hat Kid gasped when I made her stop to get a better look at the thing, she seemed to outright panic, shaking and motioning for me to get moving, by pointing forward with her free hand. So I did, the level itself wasn't very difficult, just some long leaps that could be cleared without the help of the sprint cap, which I was thankful for, otherwise my play-through would have ended right there. The only thing that made things hard was the teetering either to the left or to the right, due to the stack of people the young girl was carrying.

At the end was no time piece, but a portal that Hat Kid proceeded to throw the characters into without my input. Red Kid stopped only briefly and jumped down at the end of the platform, which completed the rift. Back on the ship, I checked if now I would be able to play Act 6 and found that I could. I wasn't ready for what awaited me.

Mafia Town Act 6: Heating up Mafia Town

Again the level started out just like normal, the Mafia asked Hat Kid to switch off the faucets that the lava comes out off. I realized something was very, very off however, when I tried to attack the faucets to turn them off. To put it simply, nothing happened. I tried and tried again to switch off the endless stream of lava, I even went to another faucet, just in case I had to switch them off in a distinct order or something, but nothing happened.

When I stopped to contemplate what to do, I noticed that the lava was slowly rising, the rather comical bouncing of the Mafia after they got burned by the lava was also replaced by them getting slowly engulfed instead, I watched in shock and turned the camera away after a few seconds, unable to watch the goofy crooks die so horribly. I knew this game could get dark at times, however, this was clearly NEVER in the game!

I tried to find out what my objective was now, most of the faucets were completely submerged in lava by now, even Hat Kid reacted by panting and wiping her forehead when idle, adding to the tension I was feeling. I needed to find away to stop the lava from rising, but I couldn't do anything!

That was when I spotted Mustache Girl in the clock tower, sitting there with her legs pulled to her chest, staring into the boiling lava below with tears in her eyes.

“H-How? H-How could this h-happen? I j-just wanted to get rid of the Mafia-” Mustache Girl wiped her face with her sleeve, “-Now EVERYONE will....All of us will.....” She buried her head in her hands, crying louder. Unlike me who pitied the girl, Hat Kid's expression showed anger mixed with disappointment. Making me think that she knew that the red-hooded girl was the one who doomed the island.

With nothing to do but to climb higher to escape the red, burning liquid, I moved Hat Kid to the cannon and jumped to the HQ, hoping that it would not reach that high. Soon Mu followed and so did the remaining Mafia that had survived until now. Some looked like they were burned by the lava, their character models were charred in some places like the shoulder and a couple of big smoldering spots on their backs. I felt bad a little, even though they were just character models, I still kind of felt bad for the guys.

“What's going on?!” The Mafia Boss, now in the jar, I should mention that he wasn't in the red time rift, came outside, followed by Cooking Cat. Both looked distressed, Cooking Cat's ears were flat on her head and she had pulled down her hat and was kneading it with both hands, while the jar was completely motionless.

With sheer horror, I noticed that the lava kept rising and was now even starting to take over the plateau everyone thought they had found shelter on. I made Hat Kid climb onto the building using the awnings, only Mustache Girl followed her.

Writing out the next thing that happened still chills me, I know that the characters aren't real, but...those screams, those terrified screams of pain and terror, I'm not lying when I tell you that I can still hear them in my nightmares...

Hat Kid was apparently also unable to take all of this, the blue-eyed girl sat down and started to cry, no one able to hear her silent sobbing but me...I felt terrible for her, call me a crybaby, but I really felt for her. First no one can see her and now, all those people died around her.

The red-hooded girl continued to cry and quietly sat down on the roof next to Hat Kid, looking at the ground while the lava slowly crept toward her, threatening to end her, just like it had ended the lives of everyone else in Mafia Town,

“How could I be so stupid...All I wanted was for them to leave...and now, and now-” She trailed of and looked up briefly before looking back down,”I'm going to...” the poor girl was trembling horribly, while I watched on helplessly. I couldn't do anything to save them, I felt like I failed Hat Kid and the people in Mafia Town.

When the lava reached Hat Kid, she didn't react at all, the girl looked at herself confused. For a moment I was a bit relieved at that but was torn right out of my brief moment of respite by loud, terrified shrieking once more. I only caught a small glimpse of the red girl, before I forced myself to look away. It was too horrible to watch...Her clothes caught fire as the lava reached her ankles.

That scene went on for what felt like hours, but was only around a minute in real life...a minute I and Hat Kid spent in hell.

That was when she got teleported back to her ship. Physically she appeared to be alright, but most certainly not emotionally.

I was about to just close the game when a cutscene played, the screen that showed the progress toward Hat Kid's home planet, showed static and Hat Kid went to check it out, still wiping away tears. I felt so bad for the girl.

The static showed a gray, humanoid shape, it spoke in a distorted manner, very low-pitched and quite eerie. “ You can't save them!”

That was all it said. Hat Kid looked shocked and confused and a little frightened. What did he mean with 'You can't save them!'? Who were we trying to save? What was up with this game!? I only wanted to play a nice platformer that I hadn't played for a few years, and now this! No, I didn't sign up to play a disturbing horror game, where a kid is forced to watch people die! No way in hell!

When I went to close the game window, however, a pop up window appeared.

Do you really want to have them all die?

Hell Yeah! No, I have to save them!

I stared at the screen blankly for a moment. Did this game honestly think that I would fall for that! If I uninstall and reinstall the game, I can play normally again, and don't have to deal with this horror. I clicked on 'Hell Yeah' and another box popped up.

So you don't care what will become of the birds, Snatcher and the minions, and the nomads? You're fine with knowing that you killed them, even though you could have tried to save them?

Nothing would please me more! I was only joking!

I would love to say that I just closed the game regardless, like a sane and normal person, but...I felt bad. I wanted to at least try to prevent them from dying. I know it's a stupid reason, but I wanted to see it through.

Alpine Skyline Chapter 1-4

After I so naively decided to continue playing, I checked where I could go to next and found that strangely enough the only area I could go to was the Alpine Skyline. I didn't even have the 14 time pieces required to enter the area, but it wasn't like I could go anywhere else. The gates for Subcon and Dead Bird Studio weren't open.

Wait.....how was I even supposed to GET to the Skyline, never mind even getting to the telescope! I had no hook shot! The hook shot badge was in the second level of Subcon Forest! I tried and tried to make the jump from the room with the washing machines over to where the telescope for the alpines was, thinking that maybe something was in that room that could help me, but I just couldn't make the difficult jump. Was that finally where I couldn't proceed any further because the game became to broken to continue? I did what everyone does in such a situation; backtrack out of desperation. I went to the main room of the spaceship, but couldn't find anything there that could help me, I had a couple of rift tokens though, so I decided to give that a shot, maybe I could get hat flairs, or maybe something changed there.

I did get something out of it, believe it or not! It was a strange badge that looked like the first dweller mask you get, the one with the fox head and the green glowing eyes. Oh, I should mention here that the badge seller appeared to be the only person in the whole game I could interact with. So far I had the no-bonk badge and pon magnet. The scooter- or the fast hatter badge obviously wouldn't have helped me considering my non existent hat. I had all three slots for badges, hoping that maybe I'd find something that could help me. Before I left him he said something I don't remember from the game, “You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?” To which he produced a strange green badge that did nothing once I equipped it, shrugging it off, I removed it and swapped it with a badge I could actually use.

Now the badge I got from the machine in the main room worked the same as the dweller mask, the green aura appeared and I assumed that I could enter the lab, now that I had the dweller mask and low and behold what do I find, the hook shot badge! At least I could proceed now, I equipped both, the dweller mask badge and the hook shot badge, and thus I could actually enter the Alpine Skyline chapters.

I walked up the long mountain path to the top and hit the weird spinny things. Then I made my way up through the clouds to the Skyline that, just like Mafia Town at first, looked pretty normal, No changes. That went through literally the whole Skyline though, so I can actually sum most of it up here.

The nomads couldn't see her, so I never received any directions form them, which wasn't too bad as the Alpines are quite big, but fairly easy to navigate through. The Birdhouse and the Lava Cake were quite easy and I only struggled a little in the Windmill, due to the lack of the sprint hat that can help you with some of the longer jumps there.

Before I went to the Twilight Bell, I noticed something again, I already said that Hat Kid looked...off a bit, now it was even worse, she was very visibly transparent now, and looked just...sickly. I figured that it had something to do with the whole nobody-can-see-Hat-Kid thing, but I had no idea what to make of it. She still controlled like normal, but appeared more pained, like something was hurting. I felt bad again for making her go through all of this, especially now that it seemed that whatever it was was causing her pain. Pushing my concerns aside, I pressed on, making my way to the Twilight Bell, that would have been all but impossible without my newly acquired dweller badge.

The real problems started when Act 5 rolled around, and the pollen were released. Before that though I got a pop up that another red time rift had appeared. It was strange, because normally you'd have to leave the Skyline to have any time rift appear, I had already cleared both of the blue ones and the purple one, and the pop ups for them came after I returned form the Windmill and the Twilight Bell and had assembled the relic for the alpines.

Alpine Skyline: Red Rift

The location of the rift was very easy to discern, it was on the knife of the Lava Cake. I found it strange that I could still explore normally, as Act 5 follows right after the last of the 4 levels was cleared. The red time rift looked the same appearance wise. The difference was that this time, I had to carry out lightly transparent versions of a nomad, a goat (I have no idea how she managed ot carry one of those. Well, she carried a walrus in the DLC sooo...), and a Lazy Paw Gang Cat.

Just like before, movement was a bit weird, due to the stack, but I managed alright. A couple of seconds in, I heard the weird noise again and when I turned the camera to look behind me, Red Kid was after me once again, this time I could actually make out something like a hat that they were wearing, but nothing else.

The stack teetering almost threw me off one of the platforms once, especially the fast spinning ones that rotate made it very difficult to jump on safely. I fell a couple of times, thanks to me being garbage at timing jumps right sometimes. All in all it was harder than the first, but still easily manageable. At the end I lost control of Hat Kid again, as she shoved the three characters she was carrying through the portal. Red Kid stopped again briefly, and this time they spoke: “You can't save all of them.”, with that taunt, they jumped off into the bottomless, red abyss, and thus the red rift ended.

Alpine Skyline Act 5: The Illness has Spread

This is where things took a turn for the worst again, go figure. I braced myself for the worst, and started the level. The title card displayed (Again without Hat Kid in it), and I had a bad feeling already. I hoped that it wouldn't be like Mafia Town where everyone died a cruel death that still shakes me to the core to this day when I think about it.

Tightening my hold on my controller, I made Hat Kid move through the dark despair that awaited us both, the three icons that displayed the location of the flowers showed up, and I made my way to the first one. I went with the one near the Birdhouse, avoiding the fire and the thunder of the lethal environment around me. When I got to the platform where it showed the huge plant, getting to it was exceedingly easy, thanks to it not realizing that Hat ´Kid was there to destroy it. Foolishly, I thought that this would be a piece of cake, that all I had to do now was break the flowers and I'd somehow find the time piece after.

My rude awakening out of that sunshine and rainbows daydream happened the moment I made Hat Kid attack the plant...only for it to do nothing, absolutely zero damage, not a scratch or any indication that I did anything. I tried again a couple of times and my hand started to sweat the more it became apparent that, once again, I couldn't do anything.

Hat Kid made a noise of confusion, before the big plant released another cloud of purple pollen. I didn't know what to do, so I just moved around aimlessly, trying to find a hint to something that I could do. When I got back to the small mountain where Hat Kid always starts out form, I could see the damage the pollen had done, houses had burned down all the way to the foundation, and fire and had spread to the point that I had to carefully jump around to not have Hat Kid lose health by stepping on it. Suddenly Hat Kid recoiled and did the animation she does than Queen Vanessa speaks for the first time, she crawled backwards and I had to turn the camera to see just what had scared her so much, due to the dense smoke. I wish I had just turned Hat Kid around and left, but I was too curios and as we all know; Curiosity kills the cat.

I saw the normally territorial, but otherwise harmless, goats chase after the nomads on a platform just below, the huge animal kicked on of the nomads to their doom down the huge mountain, his friend however met a worse end. The nomad seemed to plead for his live, bowing and folding his hands in prayer, but the huge herbivore showed no mercy. I was so glad that I for whatever reason turned Hat Kid around, so she didn't have to look at the horrible scene that unfolded. It still sickens me to this day and honestly I almost threw up when I saw the huge goat stomp on the small nomad, the loud crunch of his spine breaking echoed through my speakers and made my blood ran cold. Even thought blood is pink in this game, it still shocked me to the core to see the bloody mess that had once been a nomad. Hat Kid was crying and visibly distressed, and I couldn't blame her. I moved back, careful to not turn the young girl around. I have no idea if she was programmed to react to all of this or even if this whole scenario was coded and had been in the game before and I somehow accessed it or something, but whoever I have to 'thank' for this mess, I would like to send to a psychiatric ward. This was waaaay too messed up for a kids game.

The level ended when the whole area was full of pollen, so much so that I couldn't see Hat Kid anymore and just stood still in order to not fall off any cliffs. It just suddenly...ended. I wondered if any of the nomads escaped or if the goats killed all of them.

I got brought back to the ship and didn't move for a solid half an hour or so. First Mafia Town, now the Alpine Skyline. This cutsy platformer turned into a Silent Hill game faster than Sonic gets through Green Hill Zone. When I finally got the courage to grab the controller again and to move on, I noticed that Hat Kid was even more translucent, whatever was happening to her was getting worse it seemed.

I thought about just quitting then, but what Red Kid said at the end of the red rift, stuck with me. “You can't save all of them.” Were they referring to the characters Hat Kid tossed through the portal? Were they safe on the other side? It motivated me enough to see where I needed to go to next and I found that the gate to Subcon Forest was now open.

Subcon Forest Act 1: Contractual Obligations

I made my way over to Hat Kid's bed room, still reeling a bit from the horrifying events that continued to flash before my eyes. The first couple of acts for both Mafia Town and the Skyline were more or less tame, and Sucbon proved to be no exception to that rule.

I entered the creepy forest and started my way toward Subcon Village, where the fire spirits were. On the way, I half expected to actually still be captured by the net, but it didn't trigger at all, however I triggered a cutscene a bit further ahead near the bridge where you'd normally find an eyeball enemy that you needed to destroy to get a yarn, but as you know, no yarn for me. In place of the yarn, I got a cutscene that featured two minions talking to each other. The topic turned out to be one of the time pieces, apparently it fell into the bonfire that the fire spirits dance around. Hat Kid listened in, more like stood technically in plain sight, but the minions were also no exception to the No-one-can-see-Hat-Kid rule. I kind of hoped that, given the paranormal and occult themed forest, someone here would react to poor Hat Kid, whose appearance was more akin to a wraith than an actual alive kid.

I didn't waste any more time and moved Hat Kid over to the entrance of the village. I noted that she seemed to move a bit slower than normal, it could have just been my imagination, at least I thought that at that point in the game. When I arrived I obviously didn't get that scene where Snatcher makes sure that you're doing your chores, but it still zoomed in on the fire spirits and even showed the time piece that had fallen in the fire. I knew what I had to do, and was thankful that I at least could still pick things up, given that I had trouble attacking the plants, I had been worried about that. It didn't take me all that long to throw the paintings into the fire and extract the time piece. Before I could go and grab it, one of the fire walls disappeared and Snatcher appeared in the village and started to talk to a minion. I'm going to paraphrase here, sorry, I can't remember what he said exactly anymore.

“Did...did you managed to get rid of those annoying fires that stopped me from getting to parts of my forest?” He looked a bit confused, I'd be too if the thing that kept me trapped suddenly disappeared without cause.

“...Yeah?” The minion cowered in fear, probably hoping that telling his boss that he did it would be a good idea.

“Why didn't you do so earlier!? Well, it doesn't matter, get rid of the other ones too, now that you're at it.” Hat Kid appeared to pout after the Minion just blatantly took credit for something she did.

“...Thanks.” With that the, soul-stealing ghost vanished back in the ground, leaving me to finally claim the time piece.

Subon Forest Act 2: The Subcon Well

When I got back to the ship, I didn't realize that I missed something at the time. The levels in Subon usually needed to be unlocked by stepping into Snatcher's traps, with him now being unaware of Hat Kid strolling around in his forest, I could have easily gotten locked out of the rest of the levels. Thankfully, the corruption or whatever unlocked the rest of the levels aside from Vanessa's manor. That boded very ill.

After I entered the level and was brought back to the Snatcher's stump, I started by getting rid of the fire spirits in the swamp, which I could do earlier than normal, thanks to already being in possession of the hook shot badge. I got another cutscene where two minions talk about the well and that their boss wanted it to be cleaned. All in all not much of a big change here. I went inside the well, broke the ice that clogged it, and found the time piece. I decided that I would open up the other areas by getting rid of the fire spirits though. After all the death I'd already seen, I was far more uncomfortable than the first time I played the game, that I had to get rid of them.

Subcon Forest Act 3: Toilet of Doom

Yet another level mostly the same, it appeared that the outhouse got possessed differently this time, Hat Kid still had her soul after all. The fight went well enough, I got hit a couple of times, due to forgetting that the shock waves the toilet created, tripped you. The only other thing that change, was that a minion got praised for destroying the wretched bathroom appliance, to which Hat Kid shrugged again.

Subcon Forest Act 5: Mail Delivery Service

This one shared a fate with Mafia Town Act 5, due to Snatcher not being aware of Hat Kid, I could just grab the time piece without even needing to deliver the mail, not that I could have done so without the sprint hat.

Subcon Forest: Red Rift

The red rift showed right before I braced myself for the 4th act of Subcon, this time it was placed near the entrance to the manor just across the bridge where the destroyed tower or something is, it took me a while to realize where it wanted me to go. Awaiting another tougher platforming rift, I went over to the glowing orb and entered. Same deal as before, no explanation necessary, I think. I had to pick up a Minion, a Fire Spirit, a dweller, and of course Snatcher, strangely, no Queen Vanessa. I had only 2 health this time though, and due to the stack and Hat Kid's more sluggish movement that I mentioned earlier, I had quite a bit of trouble getting through the spinning platforms and the gear tower things. Red Kid's shape became even more defined, they looked like a boy with short hair and a coat that flowed sightly when he moved, which was the only way for me to tell what it was.

After some very tight jumps and lots of anxiety on my part, Hat Kid finally managed to get the people she had been holding through the portal at the end. Once again, Red Kid stopped.

“Why won't you just give up and disappear!? Just stop struggling already!” He exited by leaping away again. I got back to the space ship with Hat Kid looking confused. Was he the one who put me and Hat Kid through this traumatic nightmare? If so, why? What did he gain by doing that? With noting left to do, I tried to open act 4 again and this time I could access it. I took a deep breath and braced myself.

Subcon Forest Act 4: Queen Vanessa's Manor

Of course the scariest level in the normal game was also the trigger for an even scarier event in this weird corrupted, or glitched, or whatever you'd call it game. I had already been dreading this level, not only because of the strange and horrifying event that I already had to go through, but also because just like with Mafia Town's Act 6, it was kept for last without me being able to select it prior to completing the others.

I was honestly relieved and disappointed when nothing of real note happened at first, everything went normally. Some Minions once again opened the act by explaining that they saw one of the time pieces fall near the manor and emphasized that they would NOT go over there, under no circumstance, a sentiment that I kind of shared, but had to fight against.

Reluctantly, I made my way across the bridge and through the little ice puzzle to the wide nothingness that stretched out all around the manor of the ice queen. I avoided those nasty ice statues at the front because I remembered that you had to enter the manor from the basement. I sneaked around and the door to the cellar opened and I made Hat Kid jump right in.

Kind of random, but the title card for this act without Hat Kid in it was somehow very eerie, just and empty nothingness through the open door the blue-eyed child would have peeked through if this had been a regular version of the game.

This level had one of the biggest changes to the original, so far most of the levels played the same aside from the invisible Hat Kid thing, but now this invisibility caused something worse to happen, I already found it strange that the red rift appeared before I even had access to the final chapter, the reason was pretty weird.

I maneuvered my way through the house as usual, and almost got a heart attack when I opened the door to the hallway and found the shadowy figure of Queen Vanessa just walking toward the kitchen door. Hat Kid did her little skidding animation upon seeing her, while I almost dropped my controller. This may just be the only instance in the game where I appreciated a person not being able to interact with me, even Hat Kid looked relieved.

This relief didn't last long however, I needed to go to the kitchen to open the door on the left side of the hallway and the door that let to the room with the piano was locked, so I had but one option. I carefully moved Hat Kid past the queen and opened the door to the kitchen, which seemed to make the red-eyed apparition recoil.

“What?” She then followed me through the door and I opened the fridge foolishly, in hindsight I should have waited for her to turn around or leave, as that led to Vanessa being even more confused and upset, which further doomed the already pretty miserable citizens of Subcon. “What is happening?!”

Hat Kid was freaking out and so was I, due to the shadowy mass now trailing the purple-clothed child everywhere I made her go. She followed me up the stairs and into the bedroom, watching as I did what you regularly do in this level. I noticed that she started to shake more and more, I assumed it to be out of fear, but no....it was out of fury. “Stop playing tricks on me, my prince. I know you're here.”

I don't know what delusions she was conjuring up as I got the key and entered the attic. At the top I found and opened the treasure chest and that doomed Subcon.

Remembering all of this sends a chill down my spine as I'm typing this. But I'll promised myself that I'll see ti through. I just hope that I can get some answers to why my game ended up this way.

When Hat Kid opened the chest and claimed the time piece, something else fell out...a wilted, old bouquet, the flowers it was made out of preserved forever under a thick layer of ice. “You came back to me...just to get this back for her, didn't you?” Anguish and spite laced the words of the cold queen, before it switched to sadness and then anger. “I thought you came back to see me, but now I understand...-” Ice started to spread under her and toward Hat Kid, who I had no control over yet again, as she jumped onto the window sill, her eyes wide with fear as the ground started to shake.

“YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY CHEATER!!!”

That was the line that made Hat Kid bolt, she jumped through the glass and started to run back in panic, the ice spreading behind her, as I gained control again once she landed on the ground outside. I panicked, I panicked as the view turned around and I could see the ice encase the whole manor, turning it into a huge ice crystal. The ice kept spreading at a rapid pace, and even though I had no sprint cap, Hat Kid still ran, she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, as all I could see was the ice behind the space traveler.

Adrenalin kicked in and I tried to tilt the camera forward again, but I was forced to watch the ice spread as it covered the trees, the rocks. I almost dropped my controller entirely as an insane cackle echoed through the forest and almost made Hat Kid trip.

I only saw something dark and red run past Hat Kid as she entered the village, I hadn't even realized we had made it there already. The cold magic reached the blue-eyed kid, and once again, she wasn't affected.

Again I was powerless, again I couldn't do anything but watch.

That was when the view switched and I could see dwellers and minions slowly freeze to death, while they flailed around in a panic, and begged for it to stop, but to no avail. Hat Kid started shaking, the cruelty on display in front of her becoming too much to bear. My attention was drawn to the distance. Red and purple flashes lit up the horizon. I didn't want to go there, but I had no choice it seemed.

When Hat Kid arrived the ice was spreading up a shocked and terrified Snatcher, I turned Hat Kid around again as he slowly stopped moving and joined the ranks of the endlessly suffering ice statues. The evil cackle from the queen gave me goosebumps and I flinched when she simply shattered the ice sculpture of the tormented ghost. The insane laughter continued, while Hat Kid sat down and pulled her knees to her chest, before she started to cry. That was when it ended again and I simply got brought back to the ship.

It scares me how good the human is at adapting to things, as I was slowly getting used to these horrifying stuff that I had to bear witness to. I realized that I could see through Hat Kid now, even to me she was slowly turning invisible. Only one more chapter, only Battle of the Birds remained. I dreaded what the corruption would do to my favorite characters of the game, but I found out soon enough.

Battle of the Birds Act 1: Dead Bird Studio

Just like all those times before, I entered the first level of the Chapter. Neither the owls nor the penguins acknowledged Hat Kid, nothing new there, and both directors were to busy with the usual spiel of yelling at each other. The cutscene played and I sprinted up toward the vent, not even trying to talk to either of the directors' subordinates. The level proved no challenge, you know why by now. At the end, I simply found the time piece for the level, maybe because I couldn't interact with DJ Grooves and the Conductor.

Battle of the Birds Act 2: Murder on the Owl Express

The interesting stuff happen from this chapter onward. Murder on the Owl Express was there things got really strange. It started the same way, only that one of the owls was talking with the Conductor and the yellow bird told the express owl that he had to go to front of the train to get something. With nothing better to do, I followed the brown owl and witnessed him getting questioned by the crows. One asked him what his favorite sting of numbers and letters was to which he replied with ABC123.

Another question was about his pet's pet name, Pecko actually made me smile a little, which I appreciated after the ordeal in Subcon. It was a bit strange not being the main character in a game for once, given that all I could do was follow the owl to the front, there he picked up the detective costume and got a call about his uncle's sister, Owlina, visiting.

The owl that I had trailed for the past 2 minutes then went on his way to find the clues on who committed the murder, after he had quite the panic attack, due to the other owl lying in a pool of blood, it seems that my owl friend also couldn't tell that it was a mere set up. The important part was that he then just stopped after leaving the room with the blood and hid in the corner, shaking like a leaf.

Hat Kid just looked at the owl, a bit surprised, she hardly paid any attention to things around her anymore, if it was because of her getting more transparent, or due to the horrible things she had to see, I didn't know. I decided that it was best to just find the files and go form there, so I did. Thanking the game for still letting me pick things up at least, I grabbed the files and after I got the one that implicated the presumed dead owl from the cafeteria, the button that lowered the platform to reach the room where you'd find Hat Kid's file wasn't even there, so I simply walked back to the room the detective owl was in. Hat Kid threw the files toward the owl, which hit him in the head.

I wondered what would show up on the movie recordings for a moment, floating files that made their way through the whole train, more like a horror movie than a thriller. In the end the Conductor asked the owl, who the murderer was and the owl picked one of the suspects at random and just blurted out that the other Express Owls did it, which they then confirmed. That concluded this level, I had to look around for the time piece, and found it outside on the little balcony of the caboose.

Battle of the Birds Act 3: Picture Perfect

This time around Hat Kid landed on the big moon set, and we were following a moon penguin who was tasked with establishing a big fan club for himself. He did the endorsement scenes mostly on his own, I helped with pushing the dog cutout from the fountain, which was literally the only one of those that I could do. The others were just the penguin guessing incorrectly at the card game, and him answering with ranch when it came to the way he preferred his tuna sandwiches.

The best part about the level came from when I noticed that the penguins weren't taking pictures of their comrade, and I found one of their cameras near the area you land when the game starts. For a few minutes I actually forgot the pain and suffering the game had put me and Hat Kid through, and I had fun photographing the little moon penguin. It even showed the fedora-wearing bird in the photos that I took of him, the controls for the camera were the same as with the camera badge. All of this came to a sudden end though when I got the time piece as it popped out of the balloon, and the alert for a red rift appeared.

Battle of the Birds: Red Rift

I found the rift near the end of the Dead Bird Studio, right behind the big plastic award. I wondered how hard it would be this time and wasn't disappointed on the difficulty front, I had ONE health, if I screwed up here I wondered if I could even attempt the level again, or if I ended up killing the characters if I messed up. I really needed to concentrate this time. I made Hat Kid pick up the birds, which consisted of the two directors, an express owl, a moon penguin and a crow.

As you can imagine, moving around with a stack of five birds was really hard, fighting against the constant swaying while landing safely on the platforms was near impossible, given my horrible skills in this game. Red Kid, whose shape was now clear, was even more determined than ever to catch up to the little girl I controlled. I had never seen that character in the game before, at the time I was desperately trying to figure out who he was, not even Hat Kid seemed to remember him.

I was so happy once Hat Kid tossed the flock of birds through the rift, Red Kid stopped once again and only glared at the blue-eyed girl for a second before he left. I breathed a sigh of relief after that stressful rift, and I knew that the area I had to go to next would not be as pleasant as 'Picture Perfect' had been, after all following the red rift was only the untimely demise of the remaining cast, the other rifts before made that abundantly clear. I knew that 'Train Rush' and 'The big Parade' would not end well.

Battle of the Birds Act 4: Train Rush

Train Rush...oh where do I begin with Train Rush. This was by far together with the parade the most traumatizing act in the whole game...I honestly don't even want to open this can of worms, but by now you're probably just as interested to see what happened as I was during all this. This morbid curiosity that led me to continue through this whole ordeal...The human truly is a strange creature, that never seems to be able to know when to quit.

I landed on the balcony of the caboose, and entered after the Conductor told the owl that his next movie was gonna be the bomb in a good way...No Conductor...This bomb was bad on so many levels.

The owl pulled the trigger for the bomb, and immediately after the yellow bird stopped talking before telling him to get to the front to turn it off, he faltered, just like in the movie before. Hat Kid panicked and tried to get the hysterical owl to move, of course it did nothing. In my panic, I thought that maybe I could have Hat Kid switch it off, we could interact with objects so far, so where was at least a chance! I made my way through the exploding train carts, screaming and yelling followed Hat Kid as she ran.

I made it to the front, jumping and trying desperately to press down the switch, which didn't budge in the slightest. I yelled and cursed at the thing, while the clock kept ticking away the life seconds of all owls on board. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 Good bye

“Good bye.” Right before the loud explosion destroyed the only train on the planet, a weak low whisper broke the silence in the room, what followed after I could only tell from the wind shield. The train tilted to the left after the explosion send the wagons in the back off the rail, which caused the others connected to them to get flung off as well. Hat Kid fell toward the left, due the control room digging itself further into the sand, as the wheels spun around to find the traction they had lost.

That was when the shock wave created by the explosion in the back reached the front. The owl, just like Hat Kid, ended up being tossed around by the violently shaking train. He hit the control panel rather hard, a sickening crackling noise barely leveled itself above the cacophony of other noises in the chaos, but I heard his bone snap before he crumbled to the floor. It felt like hours before everything came to a stand-still, it was almost completely silent after what felt like an eternity, broken cables swinging around and fire burning somewhere in the distance were the only things I could hear...that and a creaking noise...How I wished that Hat Kid was able to interact with people.

I gasped when I noticed that the old owl I had presumed to be dead slowly got up hissing in pain. Hat Kid moved over to him, trying to help the wounded bird. He yelped when he tried to move his right wing, and almost slumped back down. He survived! I couldn't believe it!...but of course this wasn't the end of this, this game was cruel and unmerciful. It only toyed with me, making me believe that one of my favorite characters could actually survive.

The same loud creak replaced the quiet hisses of the owl with gurgling noises as a pipe broke off and impaled him. Hat Kid shrieked and started to tremble once she realized what had happened. Blood poured out of the owl's beak and from the huge wound in his abdomen, at least he appeared to have died the moment it hit him, as he didn't struggle to free himself. I felt nauseous when his limp body sank further and further down, impaling the dead bird more and more due to gravity, that was when I finally got my act together and made Hat Kid leave.

The owls didn't have it any better. As I walked around the literal train wreak, I could see that most of them had perished in the explosion, some had been crushed by large objects or debris, while others were looked singed and burnt. One particular owl broke my heart, he tried desperately to drag himself through the hot sand, as he slowly bleed out from a large, gashing injury on his side. I lost control once Hat Kid fell to her knees and cried, once again broken by what happened around her. That was when we finally returned to the ship.

Battle of the Birds Act 5: The big Parade

When I came back to the spaceship after everything once again simply faded to black, I cried together with Hat Kid, I just couldn't help it this time, call me a cry baby, but seeing all of owls meet such a terrible end made me sick even if it is just a game, I really connected with these characters the first time I played the game, so seeing all of this just tore at my heart. The two quarreling bird directors were my favorite characters and now one of them died with Hat Kid and me just a few mere steps away form him, it made my hands shake and I still had one more level to go through, one more level of agony. I was determined to see it through to the end though, I had been through enough of this already, so I deserved some closure. With that in mind I entered Act 5, and prayed that it wouldn't end nearly as bad...You already know what I'm about to tell you though, of course it ended in huge calamity.

Just like with all the levels before it, the first few minutes nothing was wrong, the penguin put on the parade costume and started to roam around the set, while the band of owls followed him. The bad stuff started when the DJ interrupted the parade for a moment and sent the penguin to turn on the pyrotechnics, the floors stayed electrified longer than in the original version, which didn't effect Hat Kid, but made it hard for the other dancing penguins to not get electrocuted.

My unease solidified more and more as I watched them struggle, Hat Kid appeared like she wanted to help the penguins and tried to interact with them, to no avail. The DJ told the star of the show to switch on the fireworks...and that was when things went from bad to worse...far worse.

In the original I already hated those fireworks, that behaved more like homing missiles, but after this I swore to myself that I'd never launch another one of those at new years out of fear that it will trigger this dark memory.

The homing missiles didn't chase after Hat Kid, they instead targeted the penguins and objects closest to them. The very first rocket hit a building, making concrete rain down on the gathering below the stage. Screaming once again echoed through my speakers as penguins got hit and either were terribly injured or got electrocuted by the floors that now had an electric current run through them nonstop, due to one of the missiles hitting one of the buttons.

No matter where I looked, all I could see was pain and suffering, once again I couldn't save Hat Kid's psyche, she had to watch the penguins jolt and twitch as the electricity slowly killed them. One small explosion after another made my skin crawl and my eyes water yet again. Hat Kid screamed out loud as I unfortunately jumped right toward the little area where DJ Grooves stood during the parade, and two missiles were headed right his way. The kid seemed to want to warn the panicking DJ, trying to get his attention, trying everything in her power to stop him from meeting the same fate as his rival and countless others met before him. It was for naught.

The sparkling, highly explosive objects that were meant to spark joy to those that watch them combust in the night sky now only sparked sheer terror as the first one hit the turntables, sending boiling hot shrapnel at the tall penguin's face, he shrieked in pain, as his jacket caught fire from machine breaking around him. For better or for worse the second missile ended his suffering fairly quickly when it stuck him in the back and made him slump over. The missiles continued to wreak havoc, but both Hat Kid and I were paralyzed, unable to turn away form the smoking feathers and the still slightly burning red jacket. The always dancing and moving penguin now laid eerily still, his star-shaped shades were teetering at the end of his beak, threatening to fall to the now empty street below at any second.

We were only brought out of our stupor when the screen went black once again and we found ourselves back in the spaceship. I couldn't even process the events as the little girl suddenly screamed in pain. At first I thought that it was due to all the mental trauma. Damn that red boy! Speaking of the devil.

“You may have saved them, but you won't be able to save yourself!” With that threat, the screen went black once again and I landed in what appeared to be yet another red time rift.

???

This rift was more or less like the others, the first thing I noticed was poor Hat Kid, she was almost completely invisible to me now, I almost had to make my way through it, only knowing by the camera always being centered on her. The blue-eyed girl moved painfully slow now and did the little panting noises no matter if I was standing still or not. I got uneasy, not sure what I should do, but decided to just try and get through the rift. Red Kid spawned again, and this time it happened, this time Red Kid caught me, and Hat Kid did lost her last health and she fell to the ground.

“Finally! Now I can finally exist! Sorry, Hat Kid, but it had to be done.” Red Kid finally got his normal color, he had short black hair, a red jacket, a brown hat, and a white shirt with something printed on it. Some blue, tribal-looking tattoos were painted on his face and he had purple eyes. With strain in her voice, Hat Kid finally named the boy that I had labeled as Red Kid.

“T-Timmy?” He looked shocked for a moment but composed himself.

“So you do remember me! The sidekick you abandoned, and doomed to non-existence!” Hat Kid tried to move and get up, but only fell back down.

“Why? I wasn't the one who did this to you.”

“I just want to live, okay! I've been stuck in endless darkness for so long, while you had a nice, adventure and made lots of friends. I was jealous!-” The sound effect and the little poof, that happened when you switch hats played, and the brown hat, was replaced by Hat Kid's iconic top hat.

“All I had to do was steal the thing that linked you to this world, that made you the main character. Now that I have it, you'll fade away and end up in obscurity just like I was before. Now I can go on adventures and make friends. Don't worry, I won't forget you...but the others will.” With that he jumped away and left the girl on the floor.

This was it? This was how this gruesome game ended...with Hat Kid fading into nothingness? Again where was nothing I could do to help, I had to watch as she slowly faded completely. I opened the menu to find something, anything that could help. That was when the green badge the badge seller gave me caught my eye. I hurried to equip it and now it did something. Hat Kid seemingly faded back in a bit, she regained all 4 hit points and her movement was back to normal.

I ran through the parkour, determined to confront Timmy and get Hat Kid's hat back. Of course I felt a little bad for the poor boy, especially now that I know that he was scrapped in beta, maybe someone in the team put this story line in because they were upset that he was cut...what a sadistic asshole, making the player and Hat Kid go through that!

The rift ended on a huge round platform, that practically screamed 'Boss Battle', and I was right. As soon as I got there, Timmy opened a portal that showed the spaceship and the planet in the background. Timmy noticed Hat Kid approach and ran toward the portal, ready to jump in.

“You won't stop me!” He yelled, but the purple-clothed girl was having none of it, she send the hook shot and grabbed his jacket, pulling back. He growled and thus I had to battle the upset boy.

This battle was like fighting Hat Kid from the normal game, if she were an enemy. He could run very fast, due to the sprint hat, and he could slow down time with the time-stop hat. Thankfully the green badge gave me some health recovery every 30 seconds or so, which at least gave me a fighting chance, I still struggled to stay alive. I'm really bad at describing this battle, sorry, but everything just turned into a blur as I was so focused on the fight. I didn't want to lose and potentially kill Hat Kid, and have her drown in darkness forever.

I beat him after what felt like at least half an hour, and he skidded across the floor much like Mustache Girl does at the end of the battle in chapter 5. Hat Kid walked over and retrieved her top hat from the beaten Timmy, who started to fade, now that he had lost the hat.

Now I was back in control, two choices presented themselves, either leave Timmy here to fade into obscurity again, or take him through portal together with Hat Kid. As I said before, I felt sorry for him, he just wanted to exist, live and have fun, go on adventures and make friends. His actions were horrible and caused a lot of pain and trauma, but I felt bad, even though he was technically just a video game character that was scrapped.

I picked him up and just like the other characters I threw him through the portal, jumping in with Hat Kid right after. The screen faded to black and I ended up back at the title screen. I switched the game off right after, but not before selecting new game to see if it had returned to normal, which I think it has now...the only difference was the option the game gave me after I selected a file...

Start a new game as

Hat Kid Timmy

#ahit fanfic #ahit hat kid #ahit mafia goons #ahit mafia boss #ahit mustache girl #ahit cooking cat #ahit conductor #ahit dj grooves #ahit express owls #ahit moon penguins #ahit snatcher #ahit queen vanessa #ahit timmy

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ordon-shield · 2 years ago

Text

Whumpril 2023 Masterpost

Link & Sheik

Link Makes Bad Decisions

Four Becomes One

Malice Infection AU

Shades of the Calamity

Runaway AU

Retrieved Communication Logs

F-1: Link? You’re near Lanayru-5 still, right?

L-1: Currently orbiting while the solar cells recharge, why?”

F-1: We’ve picked up a distress call from near its moon, and you’re the closest ship with the capacity to help.

Recovered communication logs between Central engineer Zelda Hyrule with her F-1 Class experimental fighter ship, and an L-1 Class scout ship (pilot unknown).

Sorely Needing Rest

Link just needed a horse, not an argument.

A Meeting in the Desert

Link gets left in the Haunted Wasteland to die.

His pale skin was already far past red, already peeling under the heat of the sun, and if he stayed out much longer he’d be willing to hand over the Master Sword to Ganondorf himself in exchange for a drink of water.

Blood and Stitches

Carelessly stepping into the next room, he found himself tripping over his own feet as his ears caught the whirl of one of the many traps found throughout the old mineshafts.

Link gets injured in the Cave of Flames and Ezlo helps him deal with it.

Minds and Malice

As it grew closer, Link realised what it was — a Hylian. He’d never seen a living one before, although he had a good idea of what they were like based on his resemblance to them. He knew he wasn’t one though— the word the monsters he’d met had used to describe meant something more like ‘harbinger’ or ‘herald’ from what he could understand.

Painless Potion

“Link, please just listen to me. I went to talk to that couple who runs the potion shop at the bazaar. They said you’re coming in near-daily for heart potions. They assumed you were just picking them up for the Academy, but I checked our stores and they’re the same as they’ve always been. Why do you need those potions Link?”

Under His Skin

Link is fine. The blood staining the front of his tunic might look bad, but the potion he took was able to heal the wound over once he was able to get to it, leaving only a thick scar across his chest. He was still cursing himself internally for making the mistake of forgetting to keep track of his injuries while using the painkilling potion.

Hope in Your Heart

Steeling herself, she stepped forward, calling upon her inherited magic, which took form in her hand as a bright orb of light.

“Vaati. Why have you come here?”

They turned to face her directly and smiled, the sides of their mouth stretching too far as they did so.

“Don’t worry Princess, I have no interest in you anymore.”

Evening Ambush

Link wasn’t panicking, not at all. He was just frozen in fear under the Yiga assassin who had found him while he was sleeping, and had pinned him down with their knee on his chest, waking him up with the feeling of something heavy constricting his breath, with the sharp blade of their sickle to his throat.

Snowpeak Snowboarding

Link is bad at snowboarding.

Dreams of Past Lives

The place he’s in now is… odd. He stands on a thin layer of water in a realm that seems to be nothing more than a bright summers day, light shining down through the sparse white clouds without a sun in sight.

The Malice of a Stranger

As they got closer he realised they were moving oddly, injured perhaps? It was when they were nearing the end of the bridge, close enough for him to seen more clearly, that he saw familiar blond hair falling out from under their hood.

Below the Clouds

“Master Link, I would advise returning to the sky before your illness becomes any worse.”

Death in the Castle

She let out a sigh of relief when they reached the castle infirmary. She knew it wouldn’t be able to help much, but it made her feel better to know that Link was somewhere safe.

One Hundred Years Later

“I… I don’t think this is something you can help with. Ever since I woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection things have just been… different for me.”

Shades of Family

Oh. He remembered her now, fragments of memory forcing their way into the front of his mind. He remembers playing with her as a child, how she begged him not to leave after he drew the sword, how he’d brought her gifts from the different regions he travelled to alongside the princess.

Almost Giving Up

“What if I… what if I feel like I don’t want to exist anymore Fi?”

Unexpected Imprisonment

Link knew it was his fault. It had to be. Sheik could have escaped capture if only Link hadn’t been there, slowing him down.

Alone With A Shadow

He might not know how long it had been, his cell without any windows to see the passing of time through, but the dark stone of the walls that surrounded him gave him a clue — he was trapped in Ganondorf’s castle, that floating fortress that had terrified him so much when he first stepped back out of the Temple of Time with the Master Sword on his back.

No Longer Alone

He could feel his mind breaking apart bit by bit as time went on. He found himself forgetting names, forgetting faces. He screamed sometimes, as futile as it was, as if someone could come and save him.

Scars

Link has a body covered in scars.

Things Lost in the Desert

The ruins around him were clearly much older than the ruins of the Calamity, and it seemed as if a great city had once stood against the highlands but was destroyed or simply abandoned at some point in the distant past.

when the fires of battle still smoulder

“So,” said Link, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head where his hair poured out from under his helm, “do you need something to change into?”

Father and Son?

“Link, what have you done?!”

Thoughts of a Hero

Sometimes he wished he could just run away from it all… except he could, he realised with a start. He could just leave. Could they stop him?

A Hero in the Wild

He’d been wandering Hyrule for a few months now, mostly avoiding more populated areas. As far as the villages he passed through occasionally were concerned, he was just a travelling hunter, who had some talent with a blade.

A Captured Hero

He scowled up at the men holding him captive, his arms tied behind his back and held there by another one of the small group. He recognised their armour if not their faces — Hylian soldiers.

Sleeping in Malice

Each time he slept, it would come back, shouting at him and cursing at the other presence in his mind. He knew that one’s name now at least — Ganon, the one the monsters knew only as the King.

Hero’s Downfall

Link thought his plan had been flawed from the start. If Zelda hadn’t shown up after his capture, now months in the past, she never would. Ganondorf seemed to have realised the same thing, choosing to force Link into working for him rather than holding out for Zelda to reveal herself in a rescue attempt.

Returning the Favour

She’d done the same for him once, over a hundred years ago, so he supposed it was just returning the favour.

#loz #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #my writing #whumpril2023 #botw #breath of the wild #OoT #ocarina of time #skyward sword #loz skyward sword #loz minish cap #minish cap #four swords #loz fanfiction #loz fanfic

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freedfromthegalactichivemind · 2 years ago

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I don’t know what you supposedly did, nor do I care. Spop is a hard fandom. I’ve seen people get dogpiled on tumblr for having some kind of “wrong opinion” or even for something that was supposed to be funny. I’ve seen serious dogpiling and wailing and whining on multiple tumblers over JOKES. I suppose the anti-character and anti-shippers going too far and judging our moral character by fictional people we find entertaining got everyone on edge. People got blocklisted and called out over rumors and misunderstandings, too - Someone has a beef with someone, gets their friends involved, it snowballs. (This is exactly the reason why I stopped letting Anon on my asks - getting an angry demand about WHY I’d reblogged something I thought was insightful because it supposedly came from a “bad person” who I didn’t know from Adam). Part of me blames the general crazy-making for the pandemic coinciding with the latter part of She-Ra’s airing and fandom for how nuts things got in it because the isolation and fear of an apocalyptic event made us all generally more nuts than we ever were before, even into a thing we were using as a distraction. (I’d say that it’s better I got into Spop fandom than Q-Anon, buuuuut....in some ways, not much better). I mean, seriously... I’ve been getting into other fandoms lately - actually, getting back into things I’ve loved before / never left / only had a gap in and realizing that it seems like things aren’t so crazy there - I don’t know if they’re just plain bigger (Zelda is a huge fandom, so the nutballs in it never get much of a voice against the crowd) or more mature (Trigun fandom - well, Trigun, especially the new iteration, is a for-adults anime, lots of blood and it runs on philosophical questions) - and being more mature, it attracts fans who are able to deal with moral grays. I haven’t been into writing for Spop lately. I haven’t watched the show in a while. I am thinking of re-watching just the last season so I can get in a mind-frame to finish up a clone-centric fic I started long ago. (When I was writing it, there was a death in my family of someone I was extremely close to, so it just halted). I read in the fandom only seldom now. I don't think I've read much of yours, actually... I think I might have read a few shorts? I’d say that thing in a lot of Entrapdak fic that really bothered me I was last reading heavily in it in other writers regarding out of character writing is making Entrapta too much of a damsel (it’s okay to make her scared of Beast Island when she first arrived there, but let’s face it, she was the Tech Queen of Beast Island within a day) and making Hordak wussified. Nothing bothers me more than Hordak suddenly pining for friendship. He is proud. He is dignified (except around Entrapta and Imp, and his bowing before Prime prior to the abyss-drop). He would turn himself in for trial - for those who like doing those kinds of fics, but he’d hold his head up high. I remember some fics really making him helpless and overly emotional, when let’s face it, the man is serious and would have some cold snark.

I was reading another entrapdak fic and suddenly "blah blah the alliance wont let us do anything" and i immediately stopped reading. Yknow it's possible to enjoy characters without villainising every other character, especially without making Entrapta's friends really nasty to her just because you want to make Hordak more sympathetic.

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mydeerfellow · 3 years ago

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The Parental Board Of Secrecy

TW: CHILD DEATH / TERMINAL ILLNESS

Given that Zelda was never a particularly reliable or stable parent - let alone partner - Fitzgerald’s daughter practically grew up in and around the Guild.

Scotty was born when her parents were both 18. She was unplanned, and it was a lot of chaos.

Fitzgerald wasn’t particularly high up in the Guild when Scotty was born, but his close relationship with Melville meant that she pretty much had free access.

In those days, the Guild functioned as a glorified country club, and Scotty was something of a tiny, blond mascot.

Anyone who spent time around Scotty was sworn into the Parental Board Of Secrecy - an entirely fictional committee founded by Fitzgerald as a means to get out of Scotty’s frequent badgering about upcoming surprises and gifts.

Board members were sworn to lifelong secrecy with regards to all parental matters, under pain of death. Blah blah blah.

Melville, of course, insisted that he was kicked out of the Committee years ago and delighted in spoiling whatever surprises he could.

Babysitters ranged depending on the day and the activity, but Mitchell was always a favorite once she joined the Guild. Given her touchy pride, Fitzgerald usually bribed her into tagging along on business trips by calling them ‘joint vacations’ and using Scotty’s fondness for her as leverage.

His daughter was Fitzgerald’s shadow, and even when she was an infant it was rare to see them separated. As soon as Scotty could walk, she was following at his heels wherever he went.

It was a common topic of conversation that Scotty was identical to Fitzgerald, both in appearance and demeanor. She was loud and bombastic, and thrived on being the center of attention.

She was born with a laundry list of health problems. Rather than having nurses around all the time, FItzgerald learned how to attend to Scotty’s various needs.

Scotty never showed any outward signs of an ability, however, that she survived as long as she did suggested to some that she had a latent ability similar to her father’s.

Zelda had a great deal of affection for Scotty but found parenting difficult with her fragile mental health. Most things fell on Fitzgerald, which caused some tension down the line when Scotty had an obvious favorite between her parents.

To balance this, Fitzgerald went out of his way to find hobbies that Zeld and Scotty enjoyed that he wanted nothing to do with, like painting and piano.

Scotty’s death was not a surprise. It was long and it was slow. Fitzgerald dealt with the lion’s share of the practicalities behind it, as well as caring for Scotty while Zelda pretended nothing was happening.

Having grown up with a mother who had a healing ability, Fitzgerald didn’t realize how rare they were until he was trying to find one for his child.

Scotty’s death resonated throughout the Guild powerfully, and was largely why so many members stayed on board, despite Fitzgerald’s leadership being questionable at best.

He didn’t take any time off after things happened. In fact, he was at the Guild more than he ever had been before and very rarely left.

For the most part, he left Zelda in the hands of a team of nurses and doctors at home, and mainly limited his contact to phone calls.

#potentially triggering #BSD #bsd manga #bsd anime #bungou stray dogs #bungou SD #bsd fitzgerald #bsd headcanons #bsd guild #bungo stray dogs fitzgerald #bsd margaret mitchell #bungo stray dogs guild #Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald #Margaret Mitchell #zelda fitzgerald #Scotty fitzgerald #bsd roleplay #bsd rp

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linksthoughtbrambles · 3 years ago

Text

Not thinking about apples.

Part 3 of Adventure Log+ (Sequel to Link’s Thought Brambles. There’s a lot of context that you’ll lose if you read Adventure Log+ without having read Link’s Thought Brambles. I highly recommend reading in order!) - Edited 1/29/23 to improve voice and tighten up language.

Plan.

We need a smart, solid, fool-proof-certified plan that actually makes sense.

Planning… is not my strength. I come UP with plenty. I execute few. I complete even fewer. I did pretty good on the festival, but Zelda had a huge part in that, too. The two of us together and a lot of manpower made that work. AND coffee! That stuff was good. Could use some right now.

It’s true the end of the festival wasn’t great… but that wasn’t down to our planning. Not really. Some stubbornness- NOPE, not thinking about that! Not here.

Zelda has that look on her face again. The one that wrinkles her entire forehead. She might’ve had it when Rionee galloped up to her at the shrine in Tabantha, but it changed so fast I’m not sure. I’ve seen her concentrate on problems, but usually sciencey ones she enjoys. Not something that could be life and death for us, so long-term we’re stuck with it for months if we get it wrong.

…I’d looooove to eat one of those leftover caramel apples. No one else has reached for one. Resist, Link. Resist. Don’t look and don’t drool. This meeting’s important. Someone’ll go for them once their dinner’s digested. There’s a reason they brought us those, right? They saved some tasty things for the fancy people so they didn’t have to slobber messy food while otherwise busy in public. They can slobber them behind closed doors in peace instead. This is their chance to eat one as much as it's mine!

I want one with the pink peppercorns even though I just ate a whole plate of spectacular goose-potato-onion hash and wow those itty-bitty orange thingies were so good. I’ll ask Zelda what they are later. Too weird to ask in this room.

…Am I one of the fancy people now? I’m sitting at the king’s receiving room table with him, Zelda, and Jeralt. Kind of surprised Ahadis isn’t here.

Well… maybe this isn’t the “fancy” table. I never thought of Jeralt as fancy. He’s captain of the royal guard now but as down-to-earth as you can get. Aurexler, now HE's fancy.

I guess I never thought of father as fancy. Huh.

“I’d already spent a good deal of time on this itinerary.”

Aaaaand I’d stopped thinking about the plan. Again.

“Considering recent events, I must alter it considerably. What I thought I must accomplish a week ago seems, now, less immediate and more suited to Purah and her teams. Please, father, Link, Jeralt—I shall enumerate my goals, but interject your own thoughts.

“The overarching goal is to ensure Hyrule is as prepared as possible for the oncoming Calamity.”

Same goal for the last twelve years.

“We still must accomplish previously existent goals in relation to that. Difficulties the champions are experiencing with their Divine Beasts must be resolved. I’d originally intended to visit the domain first to address Ruta’s gait. That’s still of high priority.”

No arguments there.

“I’d visited Daruk and Revali relatively recently and addressed some issues- ah, that is to say I’d addressed a mechanical issue on Medoh. I’ve no idea what assisted Daruk, but by the time we left he seemed an expert at controlling Rudania.”

Don’t blush, Link. Not important right now.

“We ought to check on Urbosa, though she hasn’t complained of anything specific.”

“Phhhh. Agreed, daughter, though I find my own mind drawn to the problem of this field around our castle.”

“Yes. That may be the most urgent issue. Fi said the field is strengthening. Who knows what it will be capable of in future?”

“So Fi needs energy so she can do something about it.”

Indeed, master. I require either you or the Princess—preferably you—to provide it.

“So how do we get enough? Do I just eat?”

“Eat?”

“Sorry, sire, it’s Fi, she- thanks, Princess.”

“Of course—here-“

“It’s fine. I can see, daughter.”

...We need to access a significant energy source, master. You would need to eat an extremely large amount of food.

“How large?”

Large enough as to make it impractical. You do have physical limitations, and your body can only digest so much food at once. If we waited a long time, it would work.

“Okay… I’m… not willing to do that, anyway. This is already a winter we think some kinds of food’ll be scarce.” I mean… I LOVE food, and I know I eat more than it seems like I should have to. I’m hungry, so it must be doing something, but you know what, Link? You’re going to have some goddess-damned self-control this winter and NOT eat whole pumpkin pies all by yourself because you can definitely survive on a lot less than you can eat… aaaaaand everyone can read this anyway even though I’m not talking, including the king, and won’t my mind just shut up??????

Uuuugh, they’re smiling at me.

“Heheh. Goodness, Link.”

Yeeeaaaah, I know. "So, not food. What are the other options? You said I could convert things, but like what?”

There are a myriad of options, master, but you are still contained in a physical body and limited by its ability to survive exposure to certain energies. For example, you are able to convert solar energy, but just as any Hylian you are subject to sunburn.

“Um. Is that why I like sunshine so much?”

That, I do not know.

“Okay, so… can I hang around outside all day and soak up Sun?”

The rate of energy transfer is too slow. To build up the quantity of energy required would take years.

“...I'm out of ideas. It's not like I can stick myself in a bonfire.”

Forgive me, master. My intent is not to frustrate you. There are few energy sources I know of in this era which either of us would be capable of absorbing in great quantity. I am curious how the Divine Beasts are faring.

“Though we don’t understand the energy sources, the Divine Beasts appear to have plentiful energy for operation, if that’s what you mean.”

In part, yes. I have little knowledge of the beasts' design. I am uncertain how they draw power. I had boarded the beasts in the past as well as with my current master during his visit to Vah Rudania, but that is all.

Ooooh, Zelda didn’t know about that. Hehe, hi. Yeah, I see you looking at me, can we talk about it later? It’s really not that important.

“If you say so, Link.”

“Kmph- I think so!”

“Indeed!”

“Skies above, it is most disorienting to see your thoughts appear on this screen, Sir Link. In your place, I doubt I’d be able to put up with it.”

“It’s not so bad, sire, not now that I’m used to it.”

“Mmmph. Most wouldn’t get used to it, I think.”

I’m just glad I’m not thinking about apples. Caramel. Peppercorns! Table. Table table table table table THINK, Link, think think think window! Uuuuuuh CROWN! Crown frown down town clown NOO not clowns, they’re fricking terrifying, uuuuh surround around astound found wound bound crowned ooooh look at that, that’s crown used twice, nice, rice lice mice thrice slice-

“What in blue blazes are you doing?”

“S-sorry, sire. Just trying to be normal.”

“…This is not normal.”

“Yeah, that’s true, you’re right sire, I just, well, I like rhymes.”

“That explains nothing.”

No, it doesn’t, does it? I can’t explain though because if I explain I am in SO much trouble, not that he doesn’t know about it, not really, but I mean who wants to find out exactly what stone thrown clone blown throne bone alone moan NONO lone-

“Sir Link, would it help you to leave the room?”

“It would make no difference, father. The slate records his thoughts regardless.”

“Auph.”

Yeah, that’s pretty much how I feel about it, too.

“What of the ancient furnaces?”

Huh? “What about them, Princess?”

“The blue flames are a highly concentrated form of energy.”

Blue flames?

“Yes. They burn ceaselessly in two locations, one in northeastern Akkala and one near Hateno in Necluda. The facilities from which they spring appear nearly identical to the main control units within the Divine Beasts.”

Fascinating. With a few exceptions, location names in this era have altered since my previous awakening. Where is Akkala in relation to this castle?

“Akkala is the northeastern-most province of Hyrule, to the east of Death Mountain.”

Thank you, Princess. I would extrapolate that these ancient furnaces tap into the energies of the sacred flames. The remains of the far more ancient Fire Sanctuary may be beneath this furnace you speak of.

“These furnaces did not exist before?”

I cannot confirm that. My previous master was not always privy to the Sheikah’s plans.

“Did they not trust him?!”

To say that would be untrue, but he was not involved in that civilization’s infrastructure. It’s possible the flames were already in use and therefore went unremarked. They also may have been created or accessed during his time or afterward. It is unknown.

“Yet the locations are significant to you.”

Thus far, Princess. One sacred flame burned in the Fire Sanctuary far to the northeast past Death Mountain, and another burned in the southeast—south of a heavily forested area yet west of a large expanse of water, within a mechanized cistern. The third burned far to the west in a free-moving vessel.

“Three flames, yet only two ancient furnaces. The location you describe in the southeast would indeed fit the location of Hateno Village. But there is nothing we know of in the west.”

It may be belowground.

“I suppose.”

If the energy sources are in fact the sacred flames, I am capable of absorbing them directly. Each may still harbor distinctive properties which would leave me unbalanced were I to absorb a great deal without also absorbing an equal amount of the other two. Since one is as yet undiscovered, this presents a problem. I could, of course, expend the energy of only one flame shortly after absorbing it.

Oh, of course!

…Consider reigning in your sarcasm, master.

...They’re all looking at me. “… Sorry.” It’s not like I trained myself to control the snark in my head. Only out my mouth.

Another option would be to collect these energies in other vessels, return them here, and apply all three at once, were the third available.

“It is possible to transfer the blue flames with a torch. A series of lanterns leads from each to a nearby location. They allow the flame’s relatively easy transfer and utilization at facilities at the end of each path.”

Fascinating. How long do these lanterns burn once lit?

“Typically not more than a day.”

How were they constructed?

“We don’t know. They pre-date our own efforts.”

Have any attempts been made to re-create them?

“The team in Akkala has attempted exactly that without success. Purah and Robbie may know more than I do. Or Impa, now I think of it. Regardless, we could deliver some of this energy to the castle for you, or you could absorb it yourself?”

Either is possible. You and my master can also absorb and store a large amount of this energy, if it is indeed that of the sacred flames.

“…May I ask what the sacred flames are?”

They are, in essence, a type of potential energy remaining from the Goddesses’ presence in this realm, in a time so ancient even I did not yet exist.

“I thought potential energy was more of a mathematical model than an existent energy form.”

Mathematical models which make accurate predictions tend to represent reality, Princess, even if the reality seems too strange to be true. The chemical energy you gain by eating can be considered a form of potential energy, for it is simply energy in storage: not currently in use.

I do not know whether these blue flames behave as the sacred flames did; energy may change form. You have already provided evidence the flames have done so.

“What evidence is that?”

They are blue. Yet the ones you’ve discovered would match the flame of power and the flame of courage, which appeared red and green respectively when I last encountered them. Only the flame of wisdom—in the west—was blue.

“These flames were left by the Goddess?”

No, master. The Goddess Hylia did not create these flames. The Goddesses did.

“Goddess��es?”

Yes.

“H-how many Goddesses are we talking?”

Three, master.

“So there’s two more?!”

No.

“Wh- three minus one is two.”

Apologies, master. Hylia is not one of the three Goddesses who originated before the creation of Hyrule.

“What?!” “Holy Hylia-“ “Merciful Goddess!” “Hhhh!”

Yes, your forebears ten-thousand years ago had also appeared unaware of them.

It’s not just me, this time. The entire room is flabbergasted. Four Goddesses. FOUR. And we didn’t know about three of them?

“Fi... is Link correct? Are there four Goddesses in total?”

…

?!!?!?! Holy S@#$- “there’s more, aren’t there?!”

…

“That is SO a yes!”

Not necessarily, master.

“No, no, I’m calling definite bulls@$# this time, Fi. No way. You clam up when there’s something I’m not supposed to know. If there were four, you’d have said so. Right? Am I right?”

“…I’m afraid I quite agree with my appointed knight.”

I may need to alter my protocols.

“OH! Oh ho, so there are at least five! Who’s the fifth one, then? You said there were three Goddesses who came before Hyrule, and for some reason you’re okay with letting us know that, but not that there’s a fifth one out there?”

If I reveal too much, all it will do is hurt you, master.

…The king, maybe she’ll listen to the king? “Sire?”

“…I must admit the difficulty of taking it in. Fi.”

Yes?

Wow. No title? I wonder if that’s why he’s taking so long to answer her…

“Hphhhhhhhh. There is no delicate way to phrase this. Was Zelda praying to the wrong Goddess?”

…Holy sh-

No.

OH thank you for that.

Prayer was inconsequential.

And now his head's in his hands.

What was he hoping for? Either way, he was wrong. I guess if prayer mattered, but to someone else, at least he wouldn’t’ve led her too far astray.

Still… if I was a Goddess, and someone was praying but just didn’t know my name, I’d answer anyway. Seems petty not to.

He’s still holding his head.

Zelda keeps switching between him and the slate, like she’s not sure where to look. Maybe I’d better say something?

“Fi, can you tell us what they’re called? The other three Goddesses you mentioned?”

Farore, Nayru, and Din.

“Wow. Wow-“

“Those names are in the song of the Goddess.”

Yes, Princess.

“…It’s not gibberish.”

No, Princess.

“Would you please translate the words? I assume you know the song.”

I do, and I can honor this request. The translation is:

Youth, guided by the Goddess’ servant Unite the earth and sky and bring light to the land Youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the light tower-

“The two what?”

You have interrupted my flow, master.

…Er. Sorry?

Thank you. The rest follows:

And before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear.

Spirit Maiden, guided by blood and memory Nayru, Farore, and Din Trust you with life and the gift of the Moon And skyward a song you and your youth shall sing.

…Is it sacrilege if I think some of it is still gibberish?

Yes, master.

!!!!

…

…You’re joking.

Why would you think so?

I can tell!

How, master?

Your tone went all funny.

What tone?

THAT one you just did!

With all due respect master, you are not the most adept person in this room when it comes to interpreting tones of voice.

Your voice is in my head. I have advantage.

“Fi.”

Ooh. Okay—Princess privilege.

Yes, Princess?

“Spirit Maiden is one of the titles you listed as mine. One you could apply to me in lieu of Your Grace.”

That snapped the king’s head up.

It’s a highly exalted title. The kind of thing usually reserved for the king and queen and only under extremely formal circumstances, like royalty from across the chasm or sea. Not that it’s happened at all in my lifetime—everyone’s too afraid of the Calamity. The highest of high priests/priestesses at the temple of time sometimes get called that, but again only in very formal circumstances.

That is, if my father’s descriptions can be trusted. Sometimes he’s… a little off.

And Fi hasn’t answered her.

“Fi, why didn’t you answer the Princess?”

The Princess did not ask me a question.

“The question was kind of implied.”

Was it, master?

“Yeah.”

…And she’s still not answering- “Fi, is Spirit Maiden a title you could use for Zelda instead of Princess?”

Yes.

“So… the song’s talking about Zelda?”

You are jumping to conclusions, master. Calling the Princess ‘Princess’ does not mean every Princess referred to in a story is her personally.

“Fair enough, so what’s a Spirit Maiden?”

A spirit maiden is a living person able to wield the magics of the Goddess Hylia.

“Okay… so the song’s about the person from an earlier time who was wielding that magic. There’s also a youth and a servant of the Goddess. Blood and… memory?... guide the spirit maiden, and the three Goddesses we just found out about trust her with life and whatever the gift from the Moon is. And she’s gonna sing a song with the youth, ohh and then there was all that weird stuff about showing two whirling sails to the light tower? What’s that about?”

…

“Fi?”

…

“Seriously, why translate it if we’re not allowed to know?”

…Are you certain you wish to know this, master?

“Sure, why not?”

…Very well… the whirling sails refer to a pair of windmill-like sail structures atop two stone pillars.

“…And?”

…The youth needed to turn the pillars.

“…Okay…how about you don’t make me ask for every part of the explanation, and just tell us the whole thing?”

You are unaware of the nature of the knowledge you seek, master.

“Fine, I’m unaware! Enlighten me.”

…

A pair of mock-windmill sails built into the pillars controlled mechanisms to turn them. The youth needed to spin the wheels a sufficient amount to point the large sails toward a nearby navigational light-tower. He did so with a device intended to expel air. The-

“Goodness, that sounds complicated. Why not simply turn them by hand?”

Why indeed, Princess?

Wh-? What’d I do to deserve that hit of irritation-?

Regardless, the youth turned the pillars to face a nearby tower-

I can FEEL it when you get huffy like that!

I do not get huffy, master.

...Okay. Sorry. Please continue?

I appreciate your cordiality, master. The tower then activated and allowed the youth entry to an internal ladder. He was then able to reach the top of the tower-

“Seriously? How tall was this tower?”

…Approximately forty feet, master.

“Wow. Not a strong climber, I guess. I’d’ve just slogged my way up there by hand, no spinning pillars required!”

“It does seem inefficient.”

…Quite.

Do you wish to hear the remainder, or may we move on?

“Oh, for sure, let’s hear it!”

“I concur.”

As you wish… the youth activated the light tower which focused a beam of light upon a thunderhead, opening a path to fly through it.

“That’s it? What about the second verse?”

We discussed that.

“Not all of it. We covered what a Spirit Maiden is and that the three names are Goddesses. The rest of it, about blood and memory, and trusting with life, and the gift of the Moon, and the song-singing—well, I guess the song-singing is pretty self-explanatory, but not the rest.”

Master, do you not agree that the first verse’s true meaning was, in fact, quite mundane?

“Silly.”

Then why force me to recount the meaning of the second verse?

“…You have a point.”

I do.

“…This tangent sprang from our discussion of the flames—that they could serve as an energy source for Fi. Let’s return to that, please.”

Sorry.

Oh. I get a smile?

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, Link. It is… tempting, is it not? To delve deep into the unknown territories of knowledge.”

Oh. Ohhhh. “I’m not as smart as you, though.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, but let’s return to the subject of greater urgency . The rest can wait.”

Yep. Control yourself, Link.

“As I understand it, Fi, Link and I are each able to collect energy from these flames. Correct?”

Yes, Princess.

“Link’s pouch is able to store energy extra-dimensionally. Could we store blue flames within it?”

It is possible, Princess. If time essentially does not move within it, a lit torch should not go out.

“Excellent. Link, how much can your pouch hold?”

“I have no idea. It’s never NOT let me put something in, not unless it was really huge.”

“How huge?”

“Well. I, ah. You know, like, a… a moblin.”

“A moblin?!”

“Yeah.”

“What possessed you to attempt that?!”

“They start disintegrating when they die. I figured if I could put it in the pouch it wouldn’t happen, and they could study it at the lab. But… you know. It didn’t work. The opening didn’t expand to let it in.”

“Ah. That makes sense, now you explain it. Alright. Let’s attempt a test with an ordinary torch.”

Okay. Hopefully the pouch won’t catch fire.

…Not a pleasant thought. I do NOT want to lose it. Guess we could go back to the woods and ask for a new one, but—oh s$#%, what would happen to all the stuff I have in there if the outside burns?!

“Due to the travel time necessary to collect energy from the flames, I propose we also attempt a shorter-term solution of some kind.”

No one else is thinking about this.

Any solution involving me will dissolve as soon as I leave this place, Princess.

“Yes. I thought we might try to disperse the field temporarily and note any effects.”

Do I let Zelda potentially destroy my awesome pouch?!

“I also wonder if Purah and Robbie might be able to manufacture an object which would serve a similar purpose.”

Maybe I empty the whole thing out first.

“We’d intended to visit the royal lab soon, regardless, and I intend to propose this to them then.”

Prudent, Princess.

…Maybe we don’t test it until we have a duplicate, I bet the Koroks would-

“Sir Link, forgive me, but please attempt to curtail your mind’s wanderings for the moment. It is difficult to follow Fi on the screen.”

“Sorry, sire.” Stupid stupid stupid stop thinking so stupid, stare at the tasty apples or something.

“…Let’s consolidate.”

Yes, please, Zelda!

“Divine Beast Ruta in the Domain. Divine Beast Naboris in the Gerudo Desert. As it happens, I also received word from Urbosa regarding several shrines unearthed there. It makes sense to survey them. More urgent points of interest—the ancient furnaces at Hateno and Tumlea Heights in Akkala. There ought to be a third energy source westward. Fi, if you absorb all three, will that heighten the effects of your magic?”

Yes. I will also be able to absorb extra energy from the final one if tempered by the other two.

“I believe it unwise for us personally to search for this third flame, but we have quite a few parties out on surveys and digs. Father?”

“Yes, let’s send word to them—direct them to begin searching. The teams at Tanagar Canyon and eastern Hebra already are, essentially, but we’ll notify them nonetheless.”

“Alright. Fi, is there any need for me to visit the springs of power and courage?”

Not specifically, Princess. The waters of the springs served their primary purpose before written memory. There may be reasons for you to return at a later date—but traveling there now would net little.

“…As you say. We skip the springs. I did want to visit the survey team on the Great Plateau owing to your declaration of its importance, Fi—of an ancient medical facility.”

It may or may not exist.

“Indeed. The Temple of Time is also near there, and—correct me if I’m wrong—one of our goals is to spread hope throughout Hyrule.”

“Yes, daughter, though readiness is of greater import.”

“Agreed. I… would at some point like to attend a service at the Temple of Time as myself. Not in disguise.”

The heart of Hyrule’s faith. “The Yiga clan might expect that.”

“Perhaps.”

“… Can we think on that one a little more? And if we do it, can we save it for the last leg of the journey? It feels… like it’s the same level of risk as the bailey. That didn’t turn out great.”

“We don’t need to decide immediately.”

…I really want one of those stupid apples.

“I also propose we assist the populace in dispatching monsters as we travel: hope for our people, and incentive for us—yes, Link?”

“Yeah. We should try not to give our identities away, though.” And it means Zelda being near monsters. I’ll be pulling my hair out in tufts. Biting my woah! Table-smack!

“We have all failed to consider something else of concern.”

…Training Zelda?

“Father?”

“Link, your mother and sister need an escort home, and I’ll be damned if I don’t assign at least three men to stay there and keep watch.”

…S%@#. S@#%, he’s right. “Yes, sire.”

“…We’re already undermanned, sire. Ahadis and I have begun restructuring the guard schedule for threes instead of pairs. It’s hell. We need more people here, not less, and after what happened we know even re-assigning soldiers from other posts is risky.”

“Sir Jeralt, I flatly refuse to leave Link’s family unprotected. That assassin did not hesitate to send an arrow toward a young girl’s heart. I doubt his compatriots will be kinder. We let them go home unprotected, and next we’ll find a ransom note demanding Sir Link’s head in exchange for their safety.”

“We could ask them to remain here at the castle.”

“You’d ask them to give up their home to avoid hiring a few more people?”

“I- eh. No, sire.”

“Mmph. Good.”

“Might I make a suggestion, father?”

“Of course.”

“Anyone we send with them must be trustworthy. I’d… hesitate to choose those we know less well. It ought to be people who have been here many years and demonstrated unwavering loyalty and strength of character.”

“…You’re going to suggest members of the royal guard, aren’t you?”

“They are loyal to Link’s father and to you.”

“…Sir Kertiss was a problem.”

“Sir Kertiss is prejudiced, but even that is steeped in loyalty to Sir Lyle. I am tempted to suggest him specifically, since he presumably will be up for hire and certainly will not impact castle rotations.”

…She… is she serious? “Zelda… he hates me.”

“I'm not so sure. He is loyal to your father. His treatment of you stems at least in part from that.”

“He’s an asshole!”

“Yes. A prideful misogynist to say the least. I have little doubt that misogyny extends to chivalry. He would not have intentionally harmed me at the tournament. He will not harm your mother or sister. Perhaps your sister may inundate him with criticism and put him in his place.”

“Or maybe she’ll annoy the s@#$ out of him and he’ll hit her.”

“Link… do you honestly think he’d do that?”

“I have no idea. He was wiling to break my ribs.”

“He was also in the field at the time.”

“He- oh.” Zelda has a point! He was acting like such a nasty f@#$er, but what’s he like if he’s not on this island with a creepy-crawly signal to hate me and Zelda poking at him? “…Okay. Alright, I’m willing to give this a shot, but I want to talk to him AND my mom and Chee about it personally. We’re sending people in threes, right? So he’d only be one of three. If we’re choosing from the guard, I nominate Turro right this second, but do we really want to do that? Jeralt?”

“Hphhh. Some of the men on the guard have been there a long time. Some not. Turro’s been here about six years and got promoted real fast. Damn skilled. Would be useful to have someone who can hit long range reliably. He’d be useful for hunting while they’re all waiting it out at your parents’ home. Cahz and Kertiss were pretty new. Eberoy woudn’t want to go, most likely. Either he’d have to leave his wife until this was over or she’d have to leave her home here. Virn’s good, but he’s less independent than Turro. If we’re choosing from the royal guard specifically, I think I’d have to say Merendith.”

“We could also take someone from my guard. If we’re gone, we don’t have to be extreme about that.”

“Oh yes we do.”

“Link?“

“We can't travel openly after what happened.”

“W-well-“

“No way. Either we travel incognito, or your entire guard joins us.”

…That’s some quiet right there. I wonder if she’s feeling at all like I am. I’d looked forward to traveling alone with her-

“If I travel with a large party, my movements will be obvious. There shall be ample opportunities to attack us, and even if I take the entire guard they would be quite easily outnumbered. It makes far more sense to leave them here--the castle is already short-staffed for the new procedures to be put in place, and their presence will help. We... could still spare someone from that group to go with Link’s family, if we don't want to take too many from the Royal Guard.”

Ohhh, Link. Ideas. Sometimes, you have them. “If we’re not in the castle, the Yiga clan could easily find out we’ve left. We have to still seem like we’re here, at least at first. Your guard rotation still has to happen, and it needs to stay strict, and we need doubles. People who look like you and I, at least from far away. We can… pretend we’re being really careful after what happened at the festival, like we’re not mixing with people much, or maybe that we’re taking a break, staying in our chambers more.” Which isn’t far from the truth anyway. “Farniha’s about your height, and Wenn’s small like me. It could work.”

“…You’re suggesting we disguise them to look like us?”

“Yep. We dye their hair. Wenn might take some convincing, but I think Farniha’ll do it no problem.”

“Wenn will do as he’s ordered.”

“…Yes, sire.”

“Hmph. You’d give him the option, wouldn’t you?”

“…Yes, sire.”

“It’s good to respect those under your command, but autonomy should only go so far. If it jeopardizes you, it isn’t acceptable.”

…Okay.

“Well. With all this in mind… I believe my new itinerary by default should take us toward Hateno first.”

“Wh- woah, Princess, I don’t want to be near my family. That’ll make them more of a target, not less, just like in the bailey!”

“We won’t be us, Link. We’ll be Farniha and Wenn. We shall dye our hair and wear their uniforms.”

Oh man. Rub your forehead, Link. It’s late. You’re tired. Of course, it makes sense! It’s Zelda. Oh- “The people in Hateno’ll recognize me.”

“Not if you keep the helmet on.”

“… Okay. Yeah, okay, I can do that around everyone else. So, we deliver them, we visit the first ancient furnace, we collect energy-“

“And I inspect the shrine.”

“Yep, shrine inspection. That makes the next stop the domain.”

“Indeed. I imagine Mipha would like to travel with us, though she may break off beyond the Dueling Peaks.”

“Maybe. And if we’re headed to the domain next, it makes sense to continue north into Akkala from there. I… think we should avoid the citadel, Princess. Guessing there’d be people there who would recognize you, and while I’m not sure that’d be much of a problem in the domain, it might be in Akkala.” And there's also that general’s wife I’ve heard about, and how she likes to invade everyone’s privacy. I’d rather not be in disguise around someone like that.

“I agree with you, Link. Vayden and the soldier from Carok Bridge infiltrated Hylian ranks easily. It seems unlikely that would occur in the Domain, but we still ought to be wary of any travelers.”

Extremely wary. So wary we don’t even talk to them. Or… no, because then you seem suspicious. Something in between is the right way to go.

I’ll be bad at this, won’t I? I’m not exactly good at saying the right thing at the right time. And I’m terrible at lying.

“It would seem prudent to then return to the castle for respite unless we receive news which diverts us to Daruk.”

Yeah. “Makes sense to come back here, anyway. We’ll need to see if there’s news about a third flame. If not, I figure the desert is the next stop.”

“Yes.”

…Well. That’s it, isn’t it? The Plan. We set up decoys to seem legitimate as long as possible. Some people’ll have to be in on it. Damn, the whole fricking castle might have to be if it goes on long enough, and that’s just not realistic if there’s even a single Yiga clan member still here. But I figure it’ll buy us a few days if our decoys hide out up here, mostly.

…Is anyone going to eat an apple, or am I going to have to leave the room without one?

“Oh- haha, Link. With all that sorted, I believe I shall try one of these caramel apples with ginger.”

“I haven’t eaten a caramel apple since I was a kid.”

“Now’s your chance, Sir Jeralt!”

“...Maybe the one with the salt. Unless either of you would like it, Sire, Link?”

Nnnnnope. “I’m eyeing one of the pink peppercorn ones.”

“Ha. As am I, lad. Shall we?”

You can see they’re not quiiite in their prime because they’re not as fresh anymore but wow is that still good. Don’t let your eyes roll back in your head, Link. You’ll seem possessed by a poe or something. They got the caramel right where it’s still gooey but not so much so that it all ran right off the apple and the pink peppercorns are a little different tasting than black ones and they’re almost pepperminty when mixed with the caramel and then the apple just mellows the whole thing out and it’s almost as good as sehhhhhhhhhhhhlebrations. Celebrations. They’re great! Except when you get shot during one, then they suck ass.

Zelda’s the only one looking, at least. For now.

____

Read Next: How our [k]nights should be.

Follow this link for the post list for this fic.

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#adventure log+#botw #zelda #linksthoughtbrambles #fanfic #zelink #breath of the wild #loz #legend of zelda #botw zelda #botw link #king rhoam #fi #original characters #lots of exposition #with caramel apples

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jinmukangwrites · 4 years ago

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Whumptober 2021 - October 3 - "Who did this to you?"

Fandoms: Linked Universe

Ao3

Warnings: major injury, attempted murder, blood, near-death experiences

---

Trouble comes with a smiling face; not that Wild knows that yet. All he sees is an eager young woman with kind eyes and a humble dress, offering to show him where he can get some wine to cook with tonight.

He and the rest of the heroes have been on the road for quite a while now, without a single town in sight. Nothing but various barns to cross their path. This is the first actual town they’ve seen in miles, even though it’s not a very big one. Yet, there is a small inn for weary travelers, and a marketplace near the front entrance of the town where farmers can sell their goods and towns-folk and gossip. The whole group of them are rather low on funds, but the market seemed like the perfect excuse to relax. Spend some money that they just barely have. Pretend to be normal people for just a few hours.

Just until sunset.

It was Wild, Twilight, Warriors, and Hyrule out in the market while the others were making deals with the innkeepers to get cheaper rooms and more beds. Wild wasn’t really sure what the others were wanting to find out in the market today, but Wild was on the hunt for quality ingredients for quality food that he couldn’t make while on the road. He planned on making a meal tonight fit enough for Zelda herself, and he needed wine to do it. Not to drink, of course not, but to soak into fine slices of meat to add extra flavoring. Nothing strong enough to get a man tipsy—and if he ends up with extra wine, he’ll put it in a flask and gift it to the Old Man. Hylia knows he deserves it.

But he couldn’t find anything even remotely related to wine in these small markets. Some stalls sell alcoholic jars of milk, but Wild honestly has never even heard of milk that could be alcoholic, let alone ever cooked with it. By the time the sun was starting to caress the horizon, frustration was bubbling in his belly because of this and all he could think about were those berries he saw on a tree a few days ago that looked perfect for making some of his own wine out of.

Twilight and Warriors were looking at a jewel-smith's stall, admiring the finely crafted trinkets and murmuring to themselves about the ones that would match her eyes, or impress that gentleman at the tavern, and Wild soon lost interest in both the stall and his love-sick companions. He had stood several feet off, leaning against a brick wall, eyeing the closest stalls to him and hoping for even a small sight of anything close to wine set up for sale.

And then he saw her. Trouble, despite him not knowing it. He didn’t even suspect it. Perhaps he’s gotten too used to the threats of other worlds, that he forgot the threats of his own.

She walked up to him, a swish to her brown dress that seemed to almost have a pink tint. Her hair was brown, done up in messy braids and a bun above her head. Wild assumed she was the daughter of a farmer who was selling crops from their farm, so he didn’t assess her too critically. Before he knew it, she was stopped a few feet from him, swaying her dress side to side between her thin fingers.

“Is there something you’re looking for, travelers?” she asked, her voice sweet like sugared honey. Beside him, Hyrule blushed a bit at the ears.

Wild wasn’t much in a good mood at the moment, but he decided that asking for help might be his only option at this point. “I’m looking for wine, or any kind of beverage like it made out of berries?”

The girl hummed, pressing her finger to her chin in thought. “The most popular beverage ‘round here is milk…” she said, and Wild’s shoulders slumped. But then she continued. “Though, I know a liquor shop further in town where they sell all kinds of drinks. I’ll show you the way, but it closes really soon.”

Hope surged in Wild’s chest. Perhaps he would be able to make a fancy meal tonight after all! Feeling in lighter spirits than he had all night, he told Hyrule to inform Twilight and Warriors that he would be going to the liquor shop. Wild barely noticed the slight hesitation on Hyrule’s face before he turned and did as he was asked. Wild should have noticed it. He should have thought more about how eager and smooth talking the girl was, should have been more in tune with his companion’s concerns, but he followed her out of the market anyway.

And now he’s here, laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood thanks to a hole in his stomach. The “liquor store” was nothing more than an abandoned shop several blocks away from the market, but he only found that out when he walked inside and saw the hastily put together lanterns to give the illusion of life, each one placed among dust and cobwebs. Before he could even turn back and question what was going on, the girl was sliding her arm around his side and heartlessly impaling him with a familiarly curved, sickle-like blade.

Her laugh was also familiar as his knees gave out and he crumpled to the floor, wheezing. Though not familiar in a way that he knew her name; he knew her kind.

“Wh-” he gasps, using one hand to clutch at the floor blanketed in bloody dust, and the other to press onto the wound in his stomach like he’s trying to keep everything in. “What-”

“You’re probably wondering why I’m here, hero,” the girl… Yiga chuckles, stepping over his crumpled body to squat by his head. “To tell the truth, I’m not sure either. I fell into a portal… and found myself in a whole new world. And I saw you, and your friends. I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to take you down. This is for Master Kohga-” Wild’s too weak to fight her off as she reaches for his body, searching his pockets and taking the only healing potions that he had. “-and for Calamity Ganon. I don’t care what happens to me now, as long as you die painfully and slowly, right here.”

Then, she stands up, takes his potions, and leaves, shutting the door behind her as she laughs into the night.

Stupid. Wild is so stupid. How did he not guess something like this would happen? Did he truly let his guard down so badly that he forgot to always be on the lookout for Yiga soldiers? Has he become so comfortable traveling between worlds that didn’t have rogue Sheikah that it didn’t matter for him to worry about them as much?

He’s going to bleed out and die here, all because he wanted some wine to cook with in a town that only sold fucking milk and he couldn’t bother to make sure the person he was following was actually someone with good intentions. He can already feel his vision swirling, and his entire body feels pathetically weak and cold. The pain is unbearable, bringing tears to his eyes.

He coughs up blood, and does his best to prepare himself for a failure’s death, as he’s too weak to even call for help; let alone try and save himself.

Stupid…

His vision swirls white, and then fades black, and he knows nothing more.

-o-o-o-o-

“Something’s wrong,” Twilight says, several minutes after Hyrule told him and Warriors that Wild had gone off with some farmer girl to find a liquor store.

“Something is wrong,” Twilight repeats when they ask a local villager for directions to the nearest liquor store, and they reply the only alcohol this town sells is the milk in the market.

Hyrule is quick to point out the direction he remembers seeing Wild and the girl go off in, and then they thankfully split up to cover more ground. The second there’s no one to see, Twilight changes into his wolf form, sniffing the air desperately for his kid. Wild’s scent is one that he will always remember, it’s stored and locked within his brain, right next to Mipha, Zelda, and all the kids at Ordon.

He finds Wild’s trail after a nerve wracking few moments, and then he’s dashing through dimly lit streets like his life depends on it.

The feeling of something being horribly wrong only gets stronger when he finds Wild’s scent leading inside a run down looking building with dim, flickering lanterns in the windows. Then, the reek of blood hits his nostrils at full force. He shifts back into his human form and bursts into the front door without a single care on what’s on the other side.

The stench of blood is stronger here, even for his human nose. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that his eyes drop to the floor along with what feels like a stone in his stomach. Wild is at his feet, curled up like a child, red pooling around his terribly pale body.

“No-” Twilight drops down to his knees, already pulling out his spare red potion and gathering Wild into his arms. Wild makes a strangled groan through his throat, but his eyes are squeezed closed.

He’s alive though. The thought that he’s still alive is the only thing that gives Twilight enough strength to pull out the cork of his jar and shove the opening to Wild’s lips.

Wild chokes as the liquid enters his mouth, but Twilight doesn’t let up. It’s preferable to drink red potions, but when it comes to drastic situations like this, just getting it in the injured person's body is enough to save their lives. Wild coughs through the liquid and writhes in Twilight's arms, and it’s all Twilight can do to keep the bottle there and shakily whisper every comforting word that he knows. Eventually, color returns to Wild’s cheeks, and his eyes blink open blearily as his choking turns into instinctive swallows.

When the contents of the bottle is gone, Twilight lets the glass jar fall to the floor as he now uses his newly freed hand to check Wild’s wound.

It’s still nasty, and deep, but no longer life threatening. Another potion or some stitches and Wild will be as good as new. For the first time in what feels like years, Twilight allows himself to breath out a sigh of intense relief.

“Twi…?” Wild asks, voice incredibly small.

Twilight holds him just a little tighter, willing his heart to calm down. He’s almost… he’s come so close to almost losing-

“Who did this to you?” Twilight demands with a bite to his tone that he doesn’t mean to direct at Wild.

Wild doesn’t react to it though. He just closes his eyes and shakes his head. “It… doesn’t matter…” he replies in a whisper. Twilight feels anger swell in his stomach and he almost argues back, but Wild talks more despite how much it must still hurt. “Later,” he says. “’M hurt, wanna sleep. Deal with… it later.”

Twilight takes a deep breath, counts to five, then lets it out. He doesn’t feel any less upset. However, he keeps his voice level, deciding that arguing with Wild here will just upset the boy more than help him.

“Okay,” he agrees reluctantly. “I’m going to carry you, okay? I’m out of potions, but Wars or Hyrule should be nearby with some of their own. Then we can go get a well deserved sleep.”

Wild simply nods and relaxes into Twilight’s arms, breathing a sigh and closing his eyes. Twilight bites his lip, then resolves himself to hold one of his dearest friends close to his chest as he stands up. There’s blood everywhere, staining his hands, his tunic, his boots, his pants. But he got here in time. Wild will be okay.

That’s all that matters now. Once Wild has all his color back and his stomach no longer has a hole in it… then Twilight can make sure whoever did this regrets being born.

“I got you, kid,” he says, “I got you.”

#linked universe #wild linked universe #twilight linked universe #whumptober2021 #no.3 #who did this to you?#blood tw #injury tw #violence tw #fanfiction #jin writes

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freedfromthegalactichivemind · 2 years ago

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Pondering my existence in this fandom...

I am not sure how much longer I am going to be here. Personal musings under the cut.

Okay, ramble-time. I am still engaging as far as reblogging some art I like and reading Sweary She-Ra, which is a nice distraction. I have not felt at all like engaging with fan theories or fanfiction ideas or any goofy fun stuff for the last several days for reasons that should be obvious to people who regularly follow this blog. I am grieving the loss of someone very close to me and haven’t felt much like doing anything. I’m also in the “herding cats” mode of family and friend interaction in regards to figuring out what to do with my loved one’s things and the whens and hows of a memorial service. A weird way in which it might tenuously link back to fandom here is that it seems like we all agree to do something that is eerily similar to how I wrote clone-funerals in my original Horde-clones series. There are definitely differences, I had clones see each other’s bodies as important to say goodbye to and we are planning to say goodbye to ashes. However, a lot of what we are planning is more celebratory rather than grim, recognizing all of the little things that made my nephew up as a person, an individual, especially the goofy and the geeky and not a damn priest or preacher in sight (not needed, not welcome). There is just a little bit of spookiness here in that I wrote that stuff 1-2 years ago and it makes me wonder if something in the spiritual realm (if there is one) was preparing me for something that I did not foresee. I just wrote those stories after a thought of “what would happen with clones on Etheria post-canon in terms of remembering their fellows who lived and died without names and freedom” and they wound up being this whole entire thing in which I was contemplating my thoughts on death and it came... completely out of the blue. These stories were not prompted by losing someone and having to deal with it. They came before it and were like some kind of preparatory course. And it’s some very off-canon fanfiction for a dumb cartoon. I’ve found myself fading just a little for this fandom, even before this event. I had lost most of my “friends” in it and was lingering on (making the new blog here) in part out of a sense of spite. A “No, you don’t get to kick me out.” I’ve had an awkward relationship with it, feeling like I just can’t review fanfic and art by a number of people (not just people who’ve blocked me) but over on Ao3 and such because “Okay, is this person I only ever kind of sort of knew, barely knew or even is new to the fandom going to enjoy a compliment from me, or are they going to be one of those people who erase all of my reviews?” There are people in this fandom whom I didn’t even know / new to the fandom who didn’t see me have a meltdown who have treated me thusly - blocks review-deletion because, apparently people have talked about me, spread rumors and some people just don’t judge people for themselves. This has left me over the past year feeling very awkward, even afraid to engage with new people in this fandom and with old hands who weren’t involved with the people I was fighting with with the “Am I bothering people?” idea, a feeling of being gatekept. I know for a fact that the person who runs the Entrapdak fandom-events has blocked this blog (although only barely knew her), which means to see event-calendars, I’ve had to rely on reblogs by the fandom at large or my non-fandom viewer blog. And, oh, yes, I’ve done Entrapdak-work, using the calendars out of spite. Like “You might try to gatekeep me, I’m here, anyway.” However, I have felt some of this spite fading. I didn’t want to do the Entrapdak-Month (full month) this year because I’d felt a little tired for big fandom-events after doing a Legend of Zelda work prompt month and doing some of the mini-Entrapdak things. I felt like just writing what I want at my own pace and didn’t see any prompts in the collection that struck me with much inspiration. If I had been planning on participating, I definitely would have dropped it, because of the tragedy in my life. As it is, the one little fanfic I was working on is on hiatus indefinitely and I might take it down. (Not that it has more than one or two readers who don’t review, as it’s a Horde-clone centric fic without Hordak and Horde Prime is only mentioned). Also, it’s a general fic, lacking any hot Horde Prime x clones or clone on clone action (I’ve always felt a little weird in the clone-fandom for definitely not being into that). What is more is that I am feeling ashamed right now for having too much of my life taken over by this fandom. I got in touch with an old friend. I hadn’t talked with her in a while because I thought she was too busy for me. It turns out that she had avoided me because she’d thought that I’d abandoned her for this fandom. We misunderstood each other. I got hyperfixated on She-Ra and she was not interested in it at all and I got too into my “She-Ra friends” (most of whom turned out to not be friends at all in the end) and had neglected my friendship with her. I, in turn, had thought she had gotten too busy with her work and family-life. I told her about my nephew because she had known him - not too well, but she’d met him. (She reminded me that, yeah, we’d all played Cards Against Humanity together - good God, my memory’s a bunch of Swiss cheese). We got to talking - I wanted to reconnect. Matt was basically my best friend, a constant in my life and we’d had our insular little family and I really need to rekindle with friends / this has made me realize that I need more real friends in my life. This friend and I used to be close before getting busy and my stupid hyperfixation drifted us apart. She was actually mad at me. I basically did the Entrapta “Are you mad at me?” type of speaking. (And informed her of my autism diagnosis, which i think is pretty much why I don’t read between the lines well at all and didn’t realize that she was actively avoiding me). This was a whole mess, but... we are talking again. It’s horrible that it’s a death that got us back to talking, but I do want to do the things I used to do with her, like our silly Legend of Zelda / Fire Emblem Awakening roleplays, and maybe if we mutually play Kid Icarus again (fandom where we’d met) we can have something again. Or she might realize she’s mad at me again. I do not know. As it is, I feel embarrassed that I’d let this fandom do this to us. I was a bad friend to someone who was an actual, real friend who cared about me for the sake of a bunch of fake friends here, my silly shipping-interest in something she just didn’t vibe with. Ultimately, my “friends” here scolded me when I was having clear mental health issues (and no, I am not claiming uwu victim blamelessness here, I was an asshole to some people on the Discords, but people whom I thought I was actual friends with who could clearly see I was in danger are what I’m talking about here)... And, well, I got accused of plagiarism over a mistake, continuing accusations of that after I thought the misunderstanding had been cleared up and I’d done what I was supposed to do to resolve the situation in regards to eliminating joint-fanwork, and ultimately someone infulential in the fandom doing a callout post on tumblr calling upon the entire Entrapdak fandom to not talk to me, telling everyone that I was just a manipulative bitch and insinuating that my very clear and public suicidal ideation was being faked. In other words, my “friends” in this fandom drove me to a stay in a psychiatric hospital which... was actually more traumatizing to me than the events I am describing here. Meanwhile, my late nephew was the one who contacted people to SAVE MY LIFE and my friend whom I was drifting away from because of the stupid fandom found out about what happened and was concerned for me and asked about me, even though she hadn’t talked to me in a while at that point. I regret not being a better friend to her. Reconciling might actually mean me giving up this fandom. (No, she has nothing in particular against it, it’s just... it being a thing that sucked me away from her). I probably will still participate some, because I like the show, the themes and the characters, but I’m realizing now that a lot of my new friends in this fandom are kind of arm’s-length friends still. I’m not in any core friend-group and I really don’t know any of you all that well. Certain former “friends” are absolute shit and Fuck You. (You won’t see this, you’ve blocked me). Some of my fandom-participation is just habit, or even a bit of spite, which is fading. I know who my true friends are. I have just lost one due to his health problems, which I had no control over. I lost another one due to entirely my own fault and I’m trying to get her back. I expect to become less and less interested in this fandom that has been incredibly painful for me as time goes on. Thank you / apologies for listening to my ramble if you clicked on it.

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pirate-rat9 · 4 years ago

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Does anyone else headcanon that Princess Zelda from Breath of the Wild is neurodivergent? I mean, I could just be projecting or grasping at straws, but bear with me here. Also, this is going to include mainly evidence from BotW and the book Creating a Champion because I haven’t had the time to sit down and play Age of Calamity all the way thru yet.

First of all, Zelda has hyperfixations/special interests.

1. Sheikah technology

On page 379 in the book Creating a Champion, it states that “she was able to restore ancient technology to a working state, putting her technological prowess on par with that of Sheikah researchers of the time.” Remember, she’s 16 here, and she knows so much about Sheikah tech that she is on par with other Sheikah researchers who are probably decades older than her.

In Memory #3: Resolve and Grief, she rambles about the Divine Beasts.

In Memory #4: Daruk’s Mettle, she is literally working on Divine Beast Vah Rudania all by herself. She is 16 years old and she knows how to fix giant 10,000 year old machines by herself.

In Memory #12: Father and Daughter, she’s observing some Sheikah scientists working on a guardian, and she knows exactly what’s going on.

In King Rhoam’s Journal it says, “Zelda's eyes lit up like a wildfire when I told her about the relics... I must admit, she has a knack for research.” This is before the Queen’s death. She’s like 5 years old here and she’s already researching advanced ancient technology. She got into Sheikah tech very young, so ancient technology is probably a hyperfixation/special interest of hers that has lasted for years.

Also, since neurodiveregnt people tend to know a hell of a lot about their hyperfixations/special interests, it would make sense that Zelda’s vast knowledge of ancient technology and wildlife comes from her being hyperfixated on those subjects.

2. Flora and Fauna

In Memory #9: Silent Princess, Zelda captures a frog and immediately starts infodumping to Link about the scientific properties of frogs. Her eyes literally light up and she starts talking extremely fast, which is something that I definitely do when infodumping.

In that same memory, she talks about how useful the flowers are for a variety of things, showing that she knows the different uses of all of those flowers.

Also in Memory #9, she rambles about the Silent Princess.

In her study, you can see a lot of plants that she grew and studied.

Zelda also seems to have issues with social cues, and she’s just not good at social interactions in general.

In Memory #9, Zelda seems to not notice that Link is uncomfortable when she shoves the frog towards him and continues to try to get him to eat the frog.

In Memory #12, when King Rhoam asks Zelda what she’s doing, instead of just answering the question, she goes on to ramble about guardians. Her father was clearly upset and didn’t want to hear about guardians, but she started to talk about them anyway.

She also seems to misinterpret social cues, like when she mistook Link’s silence as hatred.

She’s also extremely closed off and never tells people about her problems. Like when her mom died and she didn’t cry at her funeral and didn’t even open up about it until a year later.

Zelda doesn’t seem to have many friends. Like at all.

Literally her only friends are Impa, Purah, Robbie, Urbosa, and later on Link. That’s really not a lot of people, and almost none of them are her age.

Also, she has trouble seeing other people’s problems and emotions and putting herself in other peoples’ shoes, like when she wrote in her diary, “Everyone has struggles that go unseen by the world... I was so absorbed with my own problems, I failed to see his.”

Zelda has issues with emotions.

She clearly has many issues dealing with and expressing her emotions (although this could just be from trauma but still).

When things go wrong, she tends to get extremely upset. A perfect example of this is Memory #5: Zelda’s Resentment. She was extremely depressed and frustrated with her duty and Link, and the shrine not working for her just made her more upset. When Link came along and found her, she blew up at him for merely doing his job.

Also, she didn’t cry during her mother’s funeral because she felt she had to be strong. Her mother died when she was 6.

She didn’t even open up about her pain until a year later, when she passed out in the Spring of Power and Urbosa had to get her out. As far as we know, Urbosa was the only person who Zelda opened up to growing up.

She also has issues with criticism and perceived criticism.

When her father berated her for “ignoring her duty,” she wrote in her diary, “I was so frustrated and ashamed I could not even speak.”

Also, she saw Link’s silence as hatred, and she got extremely defensive and self conscious.

Zelda is extremely impulsive.

She ran off on Link during Memory #5 because she wanted to investigate a shrine, although she could’ve easily been attacked by monsters or the Yiga Clan, or she could’ve just gotten hurt in general.

In Memory #7: Blades of the Yiga, she went out into the extremely dangerous desert on her own, which almost resulted in her death.

She also tried to get Link to eat a frog completely out of the blue because she wanted to do an experiment.

Miscellaneous evidence:

Zelda is extremely rigid with rules, to the point where she prays everyday for 10 years and even puts her health at risk to pray.

She has anxiety to the point where it can keep her up at night (this is from Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity), and although anxiety isn’t a requirement to be neurodivergent, it’s often comorbid with things like adhd or autism.

So I mean yeah, that’s my evidence. I know that you could probably say that a lot of these issues come from trauma or insecurity and her love of science could just come from extreme intelligence, but I like to think that she’s also neurodivergent. Don’t get me wrong, she definitely has a lot of trauma and issues, and I also headcanon her as being like genius levels of smart, but I think it’s interesting to think of her as neurodivergent too.

#neurodivergent #neurodiverse #the legend of zelda #loz #botw #breath of the wild #princess zelda #link #urbosa #king rhoam #purah #impa #botw robbie

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fruit-teeth · 3 years ago

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Chronicles of Love and War (Chapter 3)

Merasmus would never have considered doing what he was about to do under any other circumstances.

However, he was being paid handsomely for this particular necromancy ritual. And he knew the witch who'd asked him to do this – he didn't know her well, but he knew enough about her to know she wasn't joking.

Regardless, he'd set aside a portion of his basement for this, making sure everything got off to a good start. After all, it wasn’t just himself that he had to worry about anymore.

And there it was, the knock on the basement door. He rose up, checking to make sure the basement was ready for use before he answered the door.

Before he could say anything, she placed a thick wad of cash into his palm.

“I know this is the only reason you’re doing this for me,” Zelda explained as she stepped inside. “Now that I’ve held up my end of this deal, you do yours,”

Merasmus scowled, not pleased at being treated in such a way, especially by someone like her. Still, he counted the cash for a brief moment, and once he decided it was acceptable, he tucked it into his pocket.

He reached for the glossy black box on the cabinet next to him, saying, "Madame Zelda, this payment is greatly appreciated. But you have yet to explain to why, exactly, you need this ritual so desperately. I know the deceased is someone you cared for, but…”

Zelda, a tall and elegant woman, sighed. “I do not have time to explain myself to you, now is the perfect window of time to use the Anubis Eye. With our powers combined, it should not be too difficult to activate,”

Merasmus cracked the box open, revealing the shiny, purple and black stone within. Zelda’s eyes gleamed at the sight, and she reached for it. “Give it here…”

He obliged, but as she walked over to the center of the room to lay it down, he could not help but ask more questions.

“Do you understand exactly what it is you’re getting into?” Merasmus pressed on. “Anubis Eyes can be unpredictable if not properly activated,”

“I am aware,” Zelda removed her cloak, tying her long hair back. “That is why a significant amount of magic is needed.”

“But, you also must understand…when you summon the intended target…they may not be what you expect. The remains of the dead are also necessary. Did you bring those?”

Zelda reached into the heavy bag she’d brought, taking out a glass jar filled with ashes. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment, before she held it against her chest with reverence. "Yes, in this jar. Since you decided to assist me with this, I've had a strong intuition that my sister will soon return to this world.” As she knelt in front of the Anubis Eye, she removed the top of the glass jar and scattered the ashes on the floor. “I collected as many of her ashes as I could find from her final resting place…it was not easy.”

Merasmus picked up his staff, approaching her and the pile of ashes. “If you feel so strongly, then…we shall begin.”

Zelda stood back up, taking a long breath. “Will you say the chant? Or should I?”

"She's your sister," Merasmus said as he carefully raised his staff in preparation for the required spell.

“You’re right,” Zelda stood up straight, closing her eyes. She opened her palms, and slowly but surely, a ball of energy formed and began to grow. She then began the chant as the space filled with light and the two's combined energy grew stronger:

“Gods of death, gods at the gates,

All those who keep the dead from the living –

I grab at your throats.

Return to this earth the form belonging

To the remains I place before thee.

Eye of Anubis,

Bring forth the spirit,

Reform the body,

And restore what was taken.”

The room was blindingly bright, and Merasmus found himself closing his eyes to block it all out. He could see, however, that the Anubis Eye was working: a viscous, black liquid began to seep from the amulet.

It ran towards the ashes, and the moment it touched them, they began to fizz and bubble. Soon, the ashes were completely liquified, and they bubbled like boiling water on a stove. Along with the light, a stench filled the room, beginning as a burning rubber odor and quickly progressing to rotting flesh and blood before settling into a sweaty scent. It attacked all of Merasmus’ senses, making him want to gag, but he stayed strong and did not falter with his spell.

And then, it happened: a human arm broke free from the bubbling tar, followed by another. Right before their eyes, the dark liquid transformed into the shape of a human – a large-bodied woman with robust limbs and legs.

The tar faded away slowly, revealing the pink flesh of the woman’s naked body. She lay on the basement floor, curled in a fetal position, her gray hair silver in the intense light of the room.

Zelda, upon seeing this, closed her palms up tightly. The energy ball dissolved and the light in the room reverted to normal when Merasmus lowered his staff.

“Beatrice,” Zelda whispered in awe, stepping towards the woman slowly. After a moment, she knelt down, touching her sister’s cheek. “Oh…it did not heal her scars…” she clicked her tongue, her fingers tracing along the deep burn marks.

Merasmus stood there, watching cautiously. “Well? Did it work? Is she alive?”

There was a pause, and right then, the woman began to stir. She opened her eyes, blinking slowly, taking a long, shaky breath.

“W…where am I?” her eyes adjusted to the light of the room, and she tried to heave herself up. “What’s going on?”

Zelda’s eyes burned with tears, and she gently took her sister’s face into her hands, tilting her head up to look at her. “Bea – it’s Zelda, your sister…”

Upon hearing her sister’s voice, Bea froze in alarm. When she noticed Merasmus, she took stock of her situation and realized she was completely naked, so she tried to cover herself. “Zelda!? What happened – where the hell am I!?”

Zelda quickly draped her cloak over Bea, pulling her into her arms for an embrace. “It’s all right…it’s all right. I promised I would never let anything happen to you, and…I failed. But, I will fix this. For both of us…”

Bea got quiet, and after a moment, she wrapped her arms around Zelda as well. “What are you talking about? Zelda…”

"The ritual must have altered your memory," Zelda remarked as she helped her sister to her feet. “Come with me, I will take you home and explain to you all that’s happened.”

Merasmus coughed and motioned to the door, feeling as if he'd seen something too sensitive. “You are welcome, Madame Zelda…”

"Thank you very much, Merasmus,” Zelda huffed. “I hope our paths cross again in the best of ways." She helped Bea up the stairs, whispering to her, "And once you're settled, we'll make sure those rats pay for what they did to you."

As the door slammed, Merasmus let out a sigh and began to tidy up the basement. Once it looked decent, he headed up the basement steps and to the kitchen.

When he was picking up his wallet from the kitchen counter and tucking the money inside, he was startled by a voice asking, "Daddy? What was all the noise about?"

Merasmus turned around, seeing the tiny figure of his small child standing in the doorway. “Oh – nothing, dearest. I had some business to attend to, but everything is fine.”

“Okay,” she lingered for a moment, before asking, “Can I play outside?”

“Mm, all right,” Merasmus placed his wallet back on the counter, turning to face her. “You go on ahead, I will be out there shortly. Do not wander off!”

She made a noise of agreement, trotting away to the backyard door, toys in hand. Merasmus couldn’t help but let out a little laugh once she’d left, and he began to heat up his kettle to make some tea.

At the same time, Olivia traced her fingers along the cracks in the picnic table as the adults talked around her. She’d shown them the photos she’d taken over the past few weeks, and while they’d been impressed, they soon returned to their conversations. Typically, Olivia did not mind sitting in on conversations, but there was little to do.

As Demo tried in vain to explain to his mother what a 'chicken-fried steak' was, Olivia became aware of a rustling in the nearby bushes. She turned to look, and her eyes fell upon the sight of a hare, sniffing around the sandy ground. Her heart skipped a beat; she'd photographed birds, bugs, and other animals before, but she'd never tried photographing a hare or rabbit.

Olivia glanced back at the other adults, who were still talking. Helen, who sat next to Olivia, was engrossed in a discussion with Angelica and Spy about...well, Olivia wasn't paying attention. What mattered was that the adults were occupied, so Olivia got up and pursued the hare through the bushes with her camera.

For a desert, the vegetation beside this new base was surprisingly thick. Olivia had overheard Sniper remark about the unexpected growth of plant life around the base, but she was too preoccupied with chasing down the hare to think about it. She managed to take a few shots of the animal as it tried to hide from her, but they were all fuzzy and out of focus.

She came to a halt to collect the polaroid photos and place them in her pockets, but it was then she realized she'd strayed away from the desert sand and ended up on the outskirts of a patch of forests she hadn't noticed before. Olivia looked around, savoring the scenery and thinking about how beautiful it was in comparison to the rest of the desert. Her shoes had worn down a bit of a path in the grass and soil beneath her, so she knew she could find her way back if needed. Nonetheless, she was fascinated by what was ahead — she could make out the shape of a house beyond the trees in front of her from where she stood.

Olivia climbed over a log, walking through some tall grass and past one of the trees to make it to the house. It looked deserted, at it was covered in vines, but as Olivia got closer, she could suddenly hear a voice. It seemed like a conversation, but Olivia realized it was only one person speaking in different voices when she paused to listen.

She kept walking through the tall grass until she came across an unexpected scene: another young girl, Olivia's age, sat in the middle of the yard on an old mattress. She wore braids in her dark brown hair, and she was playing on the mattress with two dolls in her freckled hands.

“’Well, I’m sorry, Mrs. Parker’,” the girl made one doll say to the other, doing a silly voice. “’But the doctor can’t take care of you because he has a cold’.” She changed her voice to match the other doll, continuing, “’But my arm got broken in that car accident! I have to’—” she suddenly noticed Olivia standing there, and she tensed up, hugging the dolls close to her. “Oh!”

Olivia didn’t know what to say for a moment, but soon, she thought of something: “Hi! What were you doing?”

The girl looked nervous, not making eye contact. “Um… I-I was just playing..." She finally returned her gaze to Olivia, her nervousness giving way to confusion. “Who are you?”

“Oh – my name’s Olivia, I was over there,” Olivia pointed behind herself, towards the way she’d come. “I didn’t know this place was back here. Is this where you live?”

“Yeah,” the girl nodded shyly. “Daddy keeps it hidden ‘cause he says only certain people can come visit us.”

Olivia nodded in understanding. “Okay. Yeah, my family’s got their new place over there, it has to be hidden too kinda, because what they do there is a secret.”

The girl took this in, looking surprised. “My daddy has secrets, too…what if they’re the same secret things?”

“I don’t think so,” Olivia shrugged, before asking, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Lucy,” the girl replied, shifting from one foot to the other. “I just moved here to live with my daddy.”

“I just moved here, too!” Olivia smiled a little, gesturing behind herself again.

“Oh,” Lucy smiled back, though she was still shy. “That’s nice…maybe, if we live close, we can play together?”

Olivia thought that was a good idea; Lucy seemed interesting, and she'd been looking for a friend, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

“Okay!” Olivia nodded, looking at Lucy’s dolls. “Is that what you play with?”

“Yep,” Lucy said, sitting down on the mattress and handing Olivia a doll. “Do you have dolls,”

Olivia sat down next to her, taking a moment to smooth her hand over the doll’s hair. “Yeah, in my suitcase. I’ll get them later! What were you playing with these?”

“That’s Mrs. Parker,” Lucy pointed to the doll Olivia was holding. “And she broke her arm and needs the doctor, but the doctor isn’t here. Just the nurse,” she gestured to the doll that was in her own hand. “And the nurse won’t help her,”

Olivia gasped. “Oh! Just like real life. Okay!”

The two girls began to play, they were unaware that, back at the base, Olivia’s absence was soon noticed.

“Where’d Olivia end up?” Sniper wanted to know, suddenly realizing she wasn’t sitting at the picnic table anymore.

Helen paused, looking around. “I assume she’s off playing?” she stood up, calling out, “Olivia? Where are you?”

No answer. She walked towards the bushes, looking around, before Pauling approached her.

“Everything okay?” Miss Pauling asked, noticing Helen was starting to get anxious.

“Everything’s not all right,” Helen sighed, catching at her lip with her teeth a little out of restlessness. “Olivia’s wandered off! This area is unfamiliar to her, she’ll get lost,”

Pauling placed a careful hand on Helen’s shoulder. “Hey, hey, its okay! Maybe she just went inside…I’ll go in and look for her, okay?”

As Pauling headed for the base, Spy, who’d been listening in, stepped closer to Helen. “So…Olivia’s wandered off?”

Helen sighed. “Yes…I thought for sure, with all these people here, someone would be watching her!”

Spy gestured to the sand a few feet away. "Do you think those shoe footprints, which match Olivia's shoe bottoms, may conceivably go to where she is?"

“Shoe tracks?” Helen stepped over, and sure enough, Olivia’s footprints were still fresh in the sand. “Oh! I see…what on earth could she want all the way out there?”

Zhanna piped up from where she sat, “She has camera with her. She is taking pictures like always, I think.”

Soldier hopped up from the picnic table. “I will go look for her!”

“Look for who?” Tilly asked, confused.

“Olivia’s wandered away,” Demo explained to her. “Lil’ lass is probably fine, she’s tough as nails.”

“Oh! The woods, aye?” Tilly reached for her water glass, taking a sip from it. “Eh, let her wander, its good for the wee ones to get lost every now and again.”

Demo got very quiet, before getting up. “Jane? I’ll go with you and help you look.”

"Please, everyone, stop talking and go find her before she..." Lar-Nah tried to think of something perilous. “Bitten by a wombat. I don’t know.”

“Wombat!?” Sniper asked incredulously. “There’s no wombats here!”

Demo finally just started following the tracks, motioning for Soldier to follow. “We’ll look! We’ll be right, you lot just sit tight…”

At the same time, Olivia was deeply engrossed in the drama she and Lucy had created with the dolls.

Just as they were deciding what kind of monsters would emerge from the forests to attack their characters, a voice interrupted them: "Lucy, I brought you some tea. It took a long time because...who is that!?"

Both Lucy and Olivia turned around, and Lucy let out a gasp. “Daddy!” she laid her doll down, getting up. “I made a new friend! This is Olivia, she –”

Right at that moment, the trees rustled, and a voice exclaimed, “Merasmus! This is amazing, we are neighbors!”

Merasmus’ face filled with dread as he turned around and saw Soldier charging towards him. “No!” he screeched, trying to find a place to put the tea down before it was too late.

Soldier collided with Merasmus, tea spilling all over the grass. Demoman caught up to Soldier, just in time to witness the tea-covered struggle with the wizard.

“Why will I never be free of you!?” Merasmus spluttered to his feet, grimacing at the tea that had gotten on his clothes.

Demo knelt down to Olivia’s height, looking her over. “What happened, lass? You shouldn’t wander away like that,”

“But I met her!” Olivia pointed at Lucy. “She lives right over there, right near us, and we were just playing!”

Lucy, startled by the appearance of the two men, tucked herself shyly behind her father’s leg. Demo, upon spotting her, looked a little surprised. “Oh? And who is this?”

Merasmus paused, looking back at Lucy, and after a moment, he replied, “This is my daughter…”

Soldier looked delighted to see Lucy, and he knelt down to greet her. “Hello, tiny child! You should know, I was roommates with your father, and we—”

“That’s enough of that,” Merasmus interrupted him. “What are you two doing back? Is the rest of your team with you? And whose child is that?” he gestured to Olivia.

“I’m Olivia!” Olivia waved her hand around. “Lucy just told you my name!’

“It’s a long story,” Demo clarified, reaching over to gently pat Olivia’s shoulder. “But, the point is that her mum is looking for her and so is everyone else,”

Merasmus cleared his throat, collecting the scattered teacups in the grass. “Well! You can bring her back, then. I’ll take my little one inside and have an eventful evening, if you don’t mind,”

“But, daddy,” Lucy tugged on her father’s cloak. “I want to keep playing with Olivia…”

“Yeah, I wanna keep playing!” Olivia insisted. “Can Lucy come over and play?”

“You should come with us, Merasmus!” Soldier piped up, excited. “We have family here!”

“That will not be necessary,” Merasmus tried to stand his ground. "And I'd rather not have my daughter entangled in your little business, I know how it is with you..." he stopped off, noticing Lucy's big-eyed, pleading face. He sighed. “Fine! Fine…”

Lucy grinned, hugging his leg. “Thanks, daddy!”

“I’m going to be a father, too, Merasmus!” Soldier informed him, pleased. “When my son is born, we should go out in the woods and chop down trees, like fathers do!”

Merasmus just stared as Olivia and Lucy met back up and began walking through the woods towards the base. “…I would rather not…do that with you, Soldier.”

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quillandink333 · 4 years ago

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Scarlet Carnations ~ Part VI

BotW Link X Zelda ~ Detective AU

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.4k

WARNINGS: death, murder, loss, trauma, blood and gore, terrorism, organized crime, self-harm

Summary: Inspector Zelda Hyrule, assisted by the faithful Constable Link Fyori, is infamous for cracking the most confounding of cases in a town dominated by crime. Her latest assignment is to solve the murder of her own godmother, Impa Sheikah, the late CEO of Sheikah Tech. Incorporated, while staying under the radar of the dreaded Yiga organization.

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII • Epilogue • Masterlist

By the time I was finally let into the crime scene the day after making my little forensic discovery, the sun had already come down to kiss the horizon. It had taken a great deal of stubborn persistence, but in the end, I had managed to convince the chief detective to grant me access by proving the effectiveness of my method.

As for the name of this method, I had decided to dub the chemical “luminol” due to its distinguishing chemiluminescence, as well as for the sake of succinctness.

Though the chief himself had taken to this well enough, there was yet another hurdle that I’d had to overcome. The estate’s residents. That process had been a bit more difficult, and delicate. At first, my adoptive family were, naturally, apprehensive to let me do as I wished. But when I gave them my solemn apologies and told them that this might allow me to make up for all I had done to hurt them, their trust in me seemed to have been somewhat restored. And I had no intention of letting them down again.

I had to admit, though, that being here on my own was more than a little bit strange. I’d done each one of my investigations side-by-side with my partner ever since I’d freed him from the psych ward and gotten him in with the force a year ago. Every time he wasn’t there to lend me his insights or hold onto something for me or put a hand on my shoulder if ever I got myself overly worked up was like the pang of being slapped across the face. But each of those times, I would straighten up and remind myself, “I’m doing this for him.”

According to Link, he’d found the key near the foot of the fireplace. And so that would be the first place I’d search.

But before I could begin, the parlour was bathed in harsh, orange light.

The officer charged with supervising me had his finger on the light switch. “Ah, actually, could you keep those off for me?” The man gave me an estranged look, but granted my request all the same. “Oh, and close the blinds for me while you’re at it, will you? Ta!”

Now that the room was dim, I’d more effectively simulated the conditions of my apartment that night.

With no further ado, I made my way toward the mantel. Its polished, stone surface couldn’t possibly have the ability to conceal any amount of blood, one might have thought. In which case, one would have been wrong. And my new formula was going to prove just that.

All it took were a couple of spritzes to cover the entire width of the mantelpiece. I waited. Then after a few seconds, the luminol set in, and I had my results.

On either end of the shelf, there was a statuette. These frog-like figures stood guard here as guardian deities to the Sheikah family, or so I’d been told as a seven-year-old. But now, the truth would be revealed to me that what they protected was not the family but a secret. And on the night of the murder, evidently, they’d failed to do even that much.

On the right-hand figurine’s forehead, there had appeared an array of fluorescent blue spots. They were shaped and positioned like fingerprints��a thumb, index, and middle, gripping the creature by its painted skull—but unlike fingerprints, they were completely filled in. I recalled dusting these statuettes for prints on the second or third day of official inspections, and I’d found nothing. The person who these bloody prints belonged to must have been wearing gloves at the time. The same method they’d used to leave no prints on Link’s revolver.

With caution, I aligned my fingers with the prints and gave the figurine an experimental wiggle. To my surprise, it wasn’t fixed to the mantel as I’d thought, but rather hinged to it. It tilted back, and underneath its feet, a small, round keyhole glowed orange in wait.

This was it. I took the unassumingly sized key from my pocket and dropped it into the hole, whereupon both key and keyhole went from orange to brilliant sky blue. A perfect fit.

I couldn’t believe my eyes with what occurred next.

When the key fell in place, the mantel itself split down the middle. Then the two halves began to shift independently away from one and other. As this was happening, the inner wall of the chimney had broken apart into individual rows of stone brick, which then swung backward into the wall.

The two halves of the mantelpiece, having scraped along all the way to either end of the fireplace, collapsed and folded down against its outer legs with a decisive klock. All of this had transpired in the span of just ten seconds.

Behind what had once existed in my mind as a solid, stone-brick wall, there was now a small, cylindrical hollow, just big enough for one or two people to stand inside. The floor of the hollow, beyond the hearth, bore the symbol of the Sheikahs and glowed with the same blue hue that had the key upon being returned to its home. I looked down and noticed the key in question on the floor, having fallen out when its side of the mantel had lain itself vertically.

When the mechanisms in the mantelpiece began stirring to life again, I realized I was on a time limit. With haste, I retrieved the key, placed it in one of my coat pockets, and entered the tiny room.

For several moments, nothing happened, save for the wall of the fireplace closing back up behind me. During these moments, I wondered, what purpose could this room possibly serve? There were no shelves or drawers or racks that one could use to hang one’s clothes on, and it was far too small to be used as storage.

Then all of a sudden, the floor began to lower, all by itself.

The farther and farther I descended into the depths of the unknown, the harder my heart pounded. Just how deep did this elevator go?

And for that matter, how in the world was it even going? The ceiling above me remained where it was, so pulleys were out of the question—and there were no gears or anything moving the floor downwards, from what I could tell.

My confusion turned to shock when the platform I was on defied gravity itself as it entered the chamber that seemed to be its destination.

“What in the blazes...?” I breathed aloud. I had half a mind to suspect that what I’d just witnessed was the result of paranormal influences. Of course, the Sheikah crest beneath my feet told me there had to be a scientific explanation as to how these endless technological mysteries operated. Auntie Purah was sure to know. Though, come to think of it, had she even been aware of the existence of this secret passage?

I now found myself at the start of some kind of corridor. The sound of my heels touching the floor as I stepped down from the levitating platform echoed in the darkness. The only sources of light came from the pulsing, blue runes lining the baseboards of the cold, polished walls, the similarly pulsing Sheikah insignia adorning the archway that marked the start of the hallway ahead, and the mounted sconces that, rather than fire, contained lightbulbs of the same blue that emitted no heat.

As enthrallingly curious as all this was, none of it was relevant. Right now, I was retracing what were likely the steps of the true killer. All I had was to keep moving forward.

But doing so was going to be far easier said than done. Not only was this place exceedingly dark, so much so that I could only just make out the edges of each wall, but it seemed to go on forever. The twists, turns, ups, and downs were so frequent that after five minutes, I hadn’t the slightest idea which way I was facing. The one bright side to it all was that there was only ever a single path forward to choose from.

But to make things worse, there were traps set up along the complete length of the labyrinth. Things like cameras, pressure plates, and even lasers, all of which were inventions that I and the general public were already familiar with, unlike that impossible “elevator” that I had discovered. One thing was for certain: whoever had carried the corpse of their victim through here had to have known their way around this place. For I was barely even able to get by without unwittingly tripping the alarm.

By the time I was finally nearing the end of my journey, and thoroughly drenched in an anxious sweat, I spotted something lying on the ground where a few stray rays of moonlight were seeping in from the outside.

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a letter of sorts. It wasn’t until I examined the back of the envelope that I realized this wasn’t just any letter. It was addressed to none other than Impa Sheikah, and it bore no return address. Not only that, but it was stained with splotches of what appeared to be blood.

The sheets of parchment inside were old and yellowing, and the envelope had what looked to be the remnants of a broken wax seal on the flap. The letter itself was handwritten in the same elegant cursive in which the address had been written, with some kind of nib pen and ink. Aside from murder, whoever had sent this must have had a deep affinity for the old-fashioned.

“My dear friend,” it began.

“It is with great sadness in my heart that I am writing to you. The last time we spoke was far too long ago, but even so, I am afraid this will be one of the last times you shall ever hear from me. You see, I have held off on this for as long as possible, but you have forced my hand. I can no longer allow you to meddle in my affairs as you have been.

“I am certain that you are aware of this by now, but I have been keeping watch over you from the ashes of the afterlife for a number of years. I must say, you have done a fine job of raising my darling Zelda in my stead. She has grown into a fine, young lady thanks to your efforts. Though I admit, I do wonder if she has what it takes to ‘solve the mystery’ of which she has been so steadfast in her pursuit ever since my unfortunate, yet necessary, departure.

“The night grows late, and I find myself carrying on. This letter has strayed far from its original purpose. Allow me to get straight to the heart of the matter. Meet me in the secret garden on the twenty-first before daybreak. Surely I need not tell you what would happen if you were to decline this simple request of mine. You were once my nearest and dearest friend, after all, and to allow malice to fester between friends such as we would be a tragedy, to say the least.

“Please deliver my deepest and most heartfelt affections to the rest of the family.

“Yours faithfully, Hilda”

By the time my eyes had dragged themselves along the sweeping lines of the signature, by hands had started to shake so severely that I nearly couldn’t read what was written there. In fact, not just my hands, but my entire being was trembling out of control. I fell to my knees, the sheets of paper scattering in every direction.

Now I knew the reason why this writing had seemed so familiar. I’d used the very same to confirm the nonexistence of the tooth fairy at age five by writing “her” a note and analyzing “her” reply the next day.

My mother was alive. Not only that, but...

I rose to my feet so quickly, my head started pounding. But I paid no heed to it. All I could think in that moment was how impossible it was.

At the end of this long hallway, there was a small set of stairs leading up to a trapdoor, carved from the same stone-like material that made up the walls of the labyrinth. It was incredibly heavy, but it wasn’t locked. With a bit of effort, I managed to heave it open.

The scene into which I would then emerge would change my life forever.

I found myself in the middle of a section of the estate’s gardens that I had never seen before. Behind me was the garden wall that I was familiar with, but rather than the rest of it being properly walled off, it was lined with dwarf evergreens. Beyond those, however, the thicket of the woods seemed all but impassable.

At the centre of it all, there was a place where the flowers were trampled and wilting. From afar, these flowers appeared a deep red hue. But up close, they were white. Something else had turned them red.

Then it dawned on me—these were carnations. I looked around. The secret garden was fit to burst with carnations.

“I observe the world as I hide in a cage. In my youth, I am weak, but I gain strength with age. I both give life and take it away. When one tries to pluck me, I make them my prey. What am I?”

“A carnation.”

It was all flooding back to me. My mother’s fondness for the species, how she had been born on the streets, the great fire that had devoured City Hall, the uprising of the Yiga...

Everything I had been led to believe was a lie.

The head of the organization was my mother. And Auntie Impa had known it all along.

When I looked up toward the starless sky, it felt as though I were plummeting head first into its insatiable, black abyss. My lungs seized up, and I couldn’t breathe. My very soul, being pulled in two opposite directions, was doomed to be torn apart.

Then the clouds parted, and behind a veil of shadow, the full moon was revealed.

The phantom of a hand belonging to the boy I called Link came to rest upon my shoulder. It was soft and nostalgic, in tandem with the frail light of the moon. I felt my chest brimming over with a courage most profound. At that moment, I harboured not even a wisp of fear for whatever it was that lay ahead of me.

#my writing #fanfic #botw #zelink #botw zelink #zelink botw #link x zelda #zelda x link #botw link x zelda #botw zelda x link #zelink fanfic #zelink fic #zelink ff #zelda pov #detective au

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whump-tr0pes · 4 years ago

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I need to gush about Honor Bound for a bit, I apologize for how long this might get, but I figured it can’t be too wrong to show gratitude for something you hold dear! I found Honor Bound through the “Bleeding through the Bandages” chapter in book 4. I got into whump around that time, mainly as a coping mechanism for my own pain, and I saw that chapter pop up on my dashboard and I didn’t really consider it was part of a bigger story and I needed a distraction so I was like, might as well. And then it ended up being the best depiction of what I was feeling that I’ve ever read; not just the pain, but the frustration, and the exhaustion, and the mind-numbing boredom shown in other chapters too. I read the previous chapters of book 4 and then decided I wanted Context and also More Sam and then I read the first three books in two days. And then I reread them all in one day because I needed to reprocess the journey that was. And then I reread all of them again with book 4 when it finished, and then religiously followed book 5 through the worst time I’ve ever had, and reread the previous books multiple times as 5 was updating as well. Needless to say it quickly became my comfort series, and on multiple occasions waiting for a new chapters was one of those little joys that kept me going. I am so, so thankful I found it when I did. The Honor Bound family is like no other found family, at least to me. All of them are such complex individuals, but their interpersonal relationships are just so deep and meaningful and each is so incredibly unique, I could honestly write essays upon essays analyzing each one. And the way you connect everything and weave tropes into the overarching plot is just Insane, it’s truly like you’re… retelling a story that actually happened, you know? Like these are real people and real stories. Because I can’t com prehend how you come up with some of this stuff. And there are so, so many “cinematic” moments that are just. So raw and hard-hitting and just stay with you. Big and small moments alike. The Ryan reveal, Joseph Stormbeck’s death (best death scene ever by the way?? I’ve told everyone I know about it when I read it I was absolutely in Awe. Never recovering from that), every moment between Sam and Isaac (I also have a sibling who I’m not technically related to by blood but would like, probably die for, so I just really appreciated everything about them and we need more stories like theirs) (and also every time Sam called Isaac out. Good for them), Sam talking Gavin through his caning holy shit that was a religious moment, Gray’s slowburn adoption of Gavin and when Gavin decided he wanted to be a Uriah (and how his initial thought to getting asked what he wants to be called was “Moore”. And then he was like “Well fuck.” Love that dumbass), just every single thing Finn ever did for the family, Finn and Ellis and Gavin’s monologue about giving Finn a concussion (!! chills!!) and their reunion after Coleen, Vera and Tori and the Work Song scene??, Vera and Tori lowkey adopting Edrissa and Edrissa’s character development and her rants about pretty things and her and Sam and Zachariah’s adorable Young Love that made me so giddy right along with them and Sam and Zachariah’s meet-ugly (I mean it was kinda sweet), Gray being the parental figure we all needed, and Nata and Zelda and Nata helping Sam (and now Gavin!!) and Vera being so proud of her puppy. Also, Isaac and Gavin’s relationship…Insane. The most dramatic enemies to lovers and I love them for it. Invented love. It’s so crazy to read the beginning and see how far everyone’s come and think about everything that has happened from that one Whumptober prompt. It’s a lot but it also makes so, so much sense. I can’t imagine a version where Isaac and Gavin aren’t together in some way (and since I started out of order, when I realized it was a enemies to lovers I was really excited to see how all of that happened. Especially after reading the first book, because it (1/2)

(2/2) was like, how the hell are they gonna get from point A to point B. No way those are the same characters, how is this ever going to get justified? And then Gavin ended up having the best character development Ever, and I love that, I love that he had to work for it and that we as the readers have to work to love him too, because it pays off). And now the ending of book 5! Oh God. On that note, you’re so good at writing villains; making them human and also absolutely detestable and killing them off in the most satisfactory way tailored to them. There was never a point after a major arc where I thought “oh, I wish this had happened instead of x, I wish this had gone this way instead”. Also, to go back on the topic of pain (physical and mental both)! The way everyone copes with it differently, it’s the same thing but it’s unique to the person dealing with it and that’s so clear in your characters, and I also love, love how you made a point of showing how pain changes people because that’s something that I find so often gets ignored, whether voluntarily or not, even in whump. But, yeah, pain definitely changes people. And that’s not always bad, and it’s not always drastic, but it happens and it’s not a shameful thing. Everyone breaks. And HB made me believe that I was allowed to break, and that it’s still possible to live a life you think is worth it. And I won’t even get into how much it’d taught me about friendship and family and how it made me reflect on my own relationships with my loved ones (especially Isaac’s perspective, oh God). It’s just such a rewarding journey. That’s the best word to describe it, I think. And this latest chapter: “The sun shone brightly on the hood of the car, so bright Isaac almost had to close his eyes. The wind moved through the trees that swayed on either side of the lane. Isaac rolled his window down, and he could hear the birds calling to each other, and the sound of the wind rustling the long grasses that smelled so green. With each heartbeat, Gavin relaxed in his arms, his head falling against Isaac’s shoulder, his breaths becoming deep and slow again. A tear rolled down Isaac’s cheek, and he hid his smile against Gavin’s hair.” That image. It’s so vivid and visceral. It gives me the exact same feeling as spring after a long winter (which is…super fitting, actually). It’s that moment of pure contentedness when you realize it’d all been worth it. I don’t know, it just really, really struck me, and I’m so glad the book ended on that note. Despite knowing more hurt awaits, even that feels okay, because happiness will always find a way to seep through. And God, do they deserve that! It’s gonna be heartbreaking when their story ends, but I also know it’s gonna feel right. Like a peaceful retirement. Just, thank you for sharing this world with us, Athena. I hope you’re aware how meaningful this story is to so many of us. And being able to follow it in real-time and hear your inputs and chat about the characters and scream in the comments and reblogs is such a privilege (and being able to read it for free at all? Five books (six counting Vera)! For free! Though I will be getting books 1 and 2 soon hopefully actually). I cannot wait for book 6 and I Will be crying about book 5 until then (and long afterwards, most likely). And I wish you all the best in everything you take on next.<3

Wow, I... wow. I had to set down my phone and just sit in silence after I read this. I’m just... so humbled and amazed that you were able to connect so much with the story and the characters. I’m so glad that you saw something of yourself, and that you were able to find comfort in it. I find comfort in them, too, just knowing that the characters are there when I need to write them.

It’s important to me for things to turn out ‘right.’ That’s part of why I write whump: the bad guys can be defeated, the good guys emerge safe, and love prevails. Writing Isaac and Gavin’s love story was absolutely the biggest surprise for me, it really did feel like I was the last to know. But I treasure them both so much and I love writing them. The family is so fun to explore, with each relationship being so different from the other. I’ve poured so much of myself into this story and into every single one of the characters.

Book 6 is going to be such a challenge. It’s the last book in the series, and the one that’ll (hopefully) tie everything together. I’m giving myself a little break, but I’m also a little scared to start it because once I start it, then each chapter will be closer to the end, and then it’ll be over. I have a few more things in store for the family but at the end, I hope they’re safe, happy, and together. These characters mean more to me than I can say and I’m so happy I’ll have you with me along the way.

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queenof-literature · 5 years ago

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I have a request. So, the Links are having difficulties scouting out a monster camp, so Wild offers to put on one of his Kilton masks to check it out. But when he puts on the mask, the others get really wigged out, because Wild is freakishly good at acting like a monster, and tere is some deep uncanny valley effect to seeing their friend lumbering around and growling and easily blending in with the monsters.

This turned out with a lot more crack than I intended. I also need you guys to know that for half the fic I spelled Bokoblins as Bobokolobkins and saw nothing wrong. Also I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again. Wild is absolutely a science nerd just like Zelda. Did you see his interest towards the slate when Zelda was explaining the frogs? They absolutely bond over being scholarly science nerds who love exploring. Thank you for the request! I hope you enjoy it! Also for those that don’t know, the Uncanny Valley Effect is basically something that is almost human but not quite, which our brain rejects but is also horrifyingly hypnotized by. “

In aesthetics, the uncanny valley is a hypothesized relationship between the degree of an object's resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to such an object” (Wikipedia)

Ever seen that horrifying teddy bear with human teeth? That’s an example of it.

Golden Bokoblins were far smarter than the others. Wild didn’t know what caused them to start showing up, but there were more of them the more he returned to his Hyrule. Perhaps Ganon had created them when he noticed Wild had conquered the Divine Beasts. Whatever they were, they were far more intelligent than even the dangerous silver and black species. Which was honestly fascinating. The Compendium gave Wild basic information such as the parts he could collect from them and their intelligence combined with being influenced by Ganon’s magic.

The Compendium was useful and Wild loved reading all of the entries he had collected, but he loved discovering facts for himself even more. He could never stay for long with Zelda fighting Ganon off all on her own, but on days he was injured or had been up for days on end, it was nice to put on Kilton’s mask and observe how the Bokoblins would act, among other monsters.

When he wore the mask and approached, they always cautiously sniffed at him, heads cocking like a curious dog. It always made Link wonder if that meant Bokoblins formed packs for life. What if he were really a new Bokoblin who lumbered out of the woods? Would they accept him eventually? Or were Bokoblins formed purely with Ganon’s magic in a group that didn’t break. That was almost a nice thought. To be born into a group that you were surrounded by until death.

Wild was so innately curious about the packs monsters formed. Were they born with the knowledge of who their groups were, and who were marked as alphas? The silver and gold Bokoblins had markings and bright colors that perhaps showed through biology who were the more naturally superior of the group. Perhaps they instead showed dominance through fights and hunts they achieved, but that was less likely. Wild rarely saw infighting between the camps he would stalk at night. He could ask Kilton, but that would be far less interesting. Besides, Kilton only seemed interested in talking business with Wild.

The circle of life within monster packs was fascinating. Bokoblins seemed to listen to the next higher rank, along with the other monsters such as Moblins. Lizalfos seemed pretty neutral, having a whole other culture of their own being from the water. The Bokoblins were energetic, the higher ranks leading the red ones in odd dances around the fire, fists pumping and continuous grunts crying from their mouths. Wild had tried to copy it once, but even then they were still suspicious of him, especially the brighter ones.

Once Wild tried to blend into a large monster camp within a skull. 4 red, 5 blues, 2 black, 2 silver, and 1 golden leader. It was going fine until a Keese had attacked him from above, causing the leaders to rain violence over his head. After that, Wild knew he would need to increase his acting skills. He spent nights filled with nightmares watching and learning instead. He was never one to sulk and feel sorry for himself, even when he felt unworthy of his title of hero and woke to clothes soaked with sweat and tears, the only time he would ever cry was in his sleep. He would move on and do something productive instead. Studying monsters for their behavior patterns helped him in the long run. Besides, at the time the only thing he remembered of Zelda was how knowledgeable she seemed. Maybe they could research together when this was all over!

Every monster was a creature of habit. Guarding their area (Wild still wanted to know how they communicated what they were guarding), everyday until they went to bed at approximately 11 pm. Everytime they would simply collapse and start snoring instantly. Wild had learned how they moved and what made them tick. The masks from Kilton only enhanced his research. Soon he was able to blend in, even with the golden ones lurking about. They were still suspicious, but Wild was able to steal their weapons in the night and slay them without even alerting the creatures of a traitor in their midst.

That’s how he got many close up pictures of his enemies. Although the group he was traveling with didn’t need to know that. They thought he took those in the middle of deadly fights. Although he did do that sometimes, that was only half the truth. It was hilarious to see the older ones panic though so Wild let them believe whatever they wanted.

The behavioral science of monsters aside, it seemed Wild’s gifts were needed.

His group of friends were looking upon a rather large group of monsters stumbling and grunting around the campfire. Almost all of them were golden. Wild had never seen this before, it must have been because of the very infection he was fighting among other Hyrules. Wild felt anger rise at the infection still spreading across his Hyrule. Zelda shouldn’t have to deal with this, not after a century of fighting off Ganon. He would be sure to take care of it before it caused her too much strife.

The group started signing strategies to each other from behind their hiding place, large bushes that hid them well enough from the monsters only meters away. Signing was easier than trying to whisper in low voices, especially with nine links all having opinions on how to fight the monsters Wild claimed were the most powerful in each species in his Hyrule.

Wild knew the group would have a hard time defeating this many golden Bokoblins. Sure they could do it. The other Links were immensely powerful and talented in fighting and in some cases magic, but this many gold bokoblins would almost certainly lead to injuries Wild would do anything to avoid seeing on his friends. Including bringing out a certain mask.

They could just go around, but they didn’t want to leave these monsters to harass innocent Hylians traveling the woods.

‘You guys wait here for now. I’ll infiltrate and steal their weapons. When I strike the first one, we’ll kill them all. They’ll throw things though so watch out.’ Wild signed, thankful many in the group had gotten used to each other’s silent languages.

‘Wild, not alone.’ Hyrule signed back, hands eagerly sparking.

‘Trust me. It won’t be violent. I won’t even swing a sword.’ Wild’s smirk was recognized by many. The fire in his eyes often meant there would be fire to match in the fields of his Hyrule. As much as they worried what in Hylia’s name his plan was, the group all trusted him… and were eager to see what he would do this time.

‘First strike, understood.’ Time confirmed. He had learned long ago that many of the rules he knew about monsters, people, and nature in general were broken and warped in Wild’s Hyrule. Wild could make things fly across a forest, create strong upward breezes with fire and monsters used each other as clubs, (Wild told Time he wished he could have captured their faces on his slate the moment they witnessed that). Wild knew his Hyrule best, and Time had learned to trust that.

Wild nodded, that smirk still twitching up on his scarred face. With a flash from his slate, Wild had a mask, if you could even call it that, resembling the orange version of the monster in front of them. It was patched, worn, and very obviously hand made, most likely by one of the many odd merchants Wild had in his Hyrule. Four snorted, causing Sky to shush him. The rest of the boys looked like they were struggling not to laugh at the odd thing placed on their friend’s head.

‘You expect that work?’ Legend signed with a large smirk. Oh, he couldn’t wait to see this! Wild just winked and emerged from the bushes they were hiding behind. The rest of the group placed their hands on their weapons, prepared to step in should whatever Wild was planning not work.

Instantly Wild widened his stance, moving side to side in the awkward way he had learned from the monsters scattered across Hyrule. Instantly Wild molded his body into the almost perfect portrayal of a Bokoblin. He heard gasps and surprised giggles behind him. Not wanting to give away their position, Wild turned slightly in order to see the group out of his peripherals. The best he could out of his mask anyway.

Time was the first one he noticed. The Old Man’s face usually had a calm demeanor, worn from battle, but mischief still shining through. Now he just looked shocked, eye widened. Hylia, Wild just looked so wrong.

“What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck?” Warriors muttered rapidly in almost perfect harmony with Wind. This was honestly quite disturbing. It was as if a man and a monster had simply been shoved together. Watching Wild lumber around surrounded by the monsters he was imitating awoke a part of their brain that wanted to look away immediately, yet they were transfixed. He knew it was Wild and it wasn’t that convincing. Why was it so fucking weird? They didn’t hear anything from Sky, but they both swore they could see his mouth murmuring obscenities at the pure chaos that was happening before his eyes.

Four was struggling not to laugh. He didn’t want to give them away, it was just so damn funny watching Wild walk around like that. Twilight also looked like he was struggling not to laugh. Both their faces were red with laughter they were trying desperately to hide. It was so disturbing but so fucking hilarious.

Legend’s face was almost as red as his tunic, probably from embarrassment of his teasing towards Wild. Why hadn’t he learned to not doubt that damn kid? Who knew what he had up his sleeve? Hyrule just looked on in awe. Maybe he could trade some magic lessons for some lessons in how to do that, whatever the hell it was. Wild might not be able to even do magic, but Hyrule was willing to try. Besides he should have tried to teach Wild magic long ago. What if he got ahold of some kind of flame or electric magic? And if Hyrule could blend in as a monster, Hyrule and Wild would be unstoppable! Hyrule started plotting with pure glee.

The Bokoblins did a little hop towards their friend, sniffing him with their large noses. Wild copied their movements almost perfectly, tilting his head at the exact same angle. After doing their weird form of greeting, Wild began collecting weapons from around their camp. The Bokoblins were still surrounding him in suspicion, but they had no qualms with Wild taking their weapons and shields, along with all their food. The group rolled their eyes at that.

Wild looked back at them, and although he didn’t let his eyes stay on them for long, they could see the pure mirth on his face. He was plotting again. Without warning, Wild pulled some meat from where it was cooking on the monster’s fire, before taking half of it in his mouth, eating it like a rabid bear. His fellow bokoblins cheered with their odd little voices and followed suit, scarfing down the meat in the same manner.

“Please stop please stop please stop.” Sky was murmuring.

“Time! Make him stop!” Wind cried out, Warriors covering his mouth before the monsters heard. Four and Twilight simply coping by laughing into their hands harder, trying desperately to keep it contained. Wild’s teeth were dripping with the still cooking animal’s blood. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make the entire scene all the more horrifying. Wild smirked at them, especially Legend. He didn’t quite understand why his acting was so atrocious to them, but that’s what they got for doubting him.

Wild continued to lower their guards. Whenever he was bored by pretending to be a monster, he would make up voices for them in his head. Most of the time they were the posh voices he remembered hearing at fancy dinners he had to attend with Zelda as her knight. Once they had grown closer, Wild had a fond memory of the both of them mimicking the especially snotty ones with emotionless faces and mouths barely moving, saving their laughter for when they were away from the king.

Finally Wild deemed them trusting enough to strike. Normally he would simply wait until they were asleep, but it was only early evening. They would be here for hours. Wild made his way around the fire, making his way to one of the back ones to prevent the others from being upon him immediately. In the blink of an eye he pulled his weapon from his slate and struck one of the golden Bokoblins in the back.

The group snapped out of their stupor with the scream of the monster Wild had struck down, grabbing their weapons and pouncing upon the rest of them. They were tough opponents, Wild was right about that, but without weapons they didn’t stand a chance. With the entire group slashing away, they left with only a few minor bruises from flying rocks. No one would look Wild in the eyes however, he still had that Hylia forsaken mask on.

“Hey Wild?”

“Yeah?”

“What the fuck was that?”

I honestly had so much fun writing this thank you for the request

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secretlysheikah · 5 years ago

Text

Tower Trouble: A Plan

Yahaha! Another chapter done! Enjoy the peace while you can, because it might not last too much longer.

As always the Linked universe belongs to the amazing @jojo56830 go check them out!

And of course, I own nothing. I’m just a dope of a person who likes to put words together in something approximating a story.

Start here:

Wild laid still for a while, completely overwhelmed with the pain that was shooting through his body. He blinked away the lingering fog of sleep and pain. He could feel a weight draped on top of him but he had to work up the energy to even move his eyes. Slowly he slid his eyes over to his side and saw a passed out Twilight half draped on top of him. Wild squeezed his eyes shut when his broken ribs gave a particularly painful throb. Muttering a soft apology he slowly began to work himself free from Twilight’s weight trying his best not to wake him. Wild was happy that Twilight was actually getting some sleep but his added weight was making it hard to breathe. Panting with the pain and effort and suppressing a coughing fit Wild managed to get most of Twilight’s weight off of him. He paused when he felt Twilight shift and mumble and he prayed he hadn’t just woken him. Wild decided to take a break at wiggling himself free to make sure he didn’t wake his friend and took a look around camp.

Based on the lighting Wild guessed it was a couple hours off from dawn. The camp was quiet all around him, the fire burning low at the center. Squinting Wild saw the distant form of Warriors sitting on a rock. His back was turned toward the camp cross legged not too far away. With a little more squinting Wild could just make out that Warriors seemed to be working on something, maybe polishing his boots? This was confirmed when he straightened and lifted a boot up to catch the fire light behind him before returning to his task. Wild let out a huff of air, he could never understand why Wars bothered to shine his boots, they only got dirty again.

Wild gave a mental shrug and continued to scan, his eyes landing on the sleeping forms of Four, Wind and Sky piled on top of one another, limbs thrown haphazardly over each other. Wild really wished he had his slate to hand, it was a cute picture not to mention great blackmail material. Mourning his bad luck Wild cast his gaze in search of the final three heroes and it didn’t take long to find them.

Hyrule and Legend weren’t too far away from the sleeping pile, their bed rolls were situated close together and they were sleeping back to back. Hyrule’s arm was stretched out behind him and was resting limply on Legend’s shoulder. Wild shook his head slightly, there was no way that was a comfortable position for Hyrule and he could only imagine how stiff his shoulder was going to be in the morning.

Wild lifted his head slightly and caught sight of Time sitting on the other side of Twilight a few feet away. He was straight backed and his head seemed to be on a constant swivel as he scanned the slowly brightening field. Wild could just make out Time’s quiet humming. It sounded like a lullaby of some sort, but Wild couldn’t place which one it could be, not that he knew many lullabies. Satisfied that he let enough time pass to ensure Twilight had fallen back to sleep, Wild slowly worked on extracting himself the rest of the way from under his mentor.

It took a few minutes and more than a little cursing but he finally got himself free and quickly placed a pillow in his stead. Wild couldn’t help but smirk when he heard Twilight sigh and pull the pillow closer before burying his face into it. Though Wild’s slight enjoyment of watching his self proclaimed mentor snuggle a pillow quickly vanished when another flash of pain rippled through his body making him flinch and wince. Wild doubled over on himself and let out a quiet groan. He rubbed his eyes before pinching at the bridge of his nose in irritation. Farore’s grace, he never thought he’d admit it, but he really missed red potions. He was going to have to get this pain under control, he had delayed the group too much as it was and he was tired of feeling weak. Decision made, Wild straightened himself the best he could and closed his eyes.

During his adventure Wild had encountered instances where he found himself wounded and stranded somewhere remote, unable to teleport thanks to storms that messed with his communication with the towers. During those times he had to push his pain to the side and outlast the storms until he could get help. Because the wilds didn’t care if you were hurt or sick, no, in the wilds you kept moving. To stop for too long would be a death sentence. Wild learned quickly that you either became very good at compartmentalizing the pain so you could function or you laid down and died. Needless to say, he became very skilled at pain management after some very long days and nights of seemingly endless storms.

With his eyes closed he slowly took note of all the aches and pains he had and pictured a lit candle in a darkened room. The flame of the candle represented the pain. He breathed in a steadying breath, held it and slowly released it. He watched the flame grow brighter and larger, flickering and guttering with the ebb and flow of his tortured nerve endings. The goal was to dim the light, shrink the flame to just a glowing ember. He couldn’t stop the pain completely of course, but that wasn’t really the point of the exercise. He found that all he had to do was shrink the flame small enough so he could put the ‘candle’ away for later. He breathed in and out slowly and focused on the light, watching it gutter and fade with each breath as he worked to tuck the pain away for later.

It took some time, but Wild managed to get most of his pain to fade into background noise. He knew he was still hurting but it was manageable for now and with that little bit of clarity he moved on to his next task. He had to deal with his depleted energy. Clearly relying on sleep to get his energy back was out of the question. It seemed Dark had every intention of making ‘sleep’ as exhausting as possible. So that left him with elixirs and whatever meals he could scrape together. As quietly as he could Wild scooted over to his pack and grabbed up his sheikah slate and began to scroll through his inventory.

When it was all said and done, he had about three elixirs to boost his stamina. They wouldn’t last long, but if he planned out when he should take them it might just be enough to keep him moving for a day or two. Wild chewed on his lip, and tapped his finger against the slate slowly scrolling through his ingredients to see what he had to work with. He let his mind drift a little as he sorted through the various monster parts and food stuffs.

Dark had wanted to make a deal, and he would be lying to himself if he said it wasn’t a tempting offer. Betray everyone in exchange for redemption, to help Zelda, to fix his mistakes? How could he not be tempted by that? He paused in his scrolling and closed eyes feeling absolutely disgusted with himself for even entertaining the idea. He took a deep breath, grounding himself with the pain he allowed to flare in his chest before carefully working the pain back into a manageable hum. He let the breath out slowly and held back a ragged cough that wanted to burst out from his throat. When had he become a monster? Or maybe he always was?

Wild paused in his scrolling again and ground his teeth. He didn’t feel like himself. His mind was becoming divided and tangled together all at once and it made his thoughts a confused mess of conflicting thoughts. He took a shaky breath, willing the shame filled tears that had unexpectedly welled up back. Crying wouldn’t help get him out of this situation, he had to think.

Carefully Wild deconstructed the dream. Dark had said he wanted to make him a puppet, but said he would much prefer an ally. So his choices were either become Dark’s alley, or become a puppet. Either option wasn’t great for him or the others.

What if this deal of Dark’s was only a red herring? A convoluted plan to keep him off balance and therefore all the more easier to tangle him up in his web? One thing was for sure, he had to tell the others about his dream, they had to be made aware so they wouldn’t be caught if guard if… No he didn’t want to think of that.

Another thought popped in to his mind then, what if Dark could see and hear Wild planning with the others? It was clear Dark had some sort of attachment to him, what if he was using Wild as a sort of listening device, like Wind’s stone? If that were the case, then how was he going to inform the others without alerting Dark? Maybe he could sign it to them? But what if Dark was out here with them, watching from a distance? If it was true that Dark was a mixture of all of them then there was a good chance Dark knew how to read sign as well. No, signing was too risky. He racked his overly tired brain trying to figure out what to do.

Then a thought occurred to him. Maybe he could use Dark’s plan against him. Pretend to consider the deal, buy himself and the others time to… To do what exactly? It’s not like Wild had any idea how break Dark’s hold on him short of somehow killing him or himself. Wild shuddered at the thought of having to end himself in order to protect the others, he could only imagine the trauma that would cause everyone left behind. Wild sighed and opened his eyes again when he heard someone sit beside him.

“Hey there cub, what are you working on?” Time asked quietly as to make sure he wouldn’t wake anyone. Wild shrugged and tapped at his slate.

“I’m planning on making myself some elixirs to help with stamina.” Wild answered distractedly as he pondered which monster part would give him the strongest elixir.

“Sleep isn’t helping?” Time asked as he leaned over and joined Wild looking over the various ingredients.

“Not in the slightest.” Wild sighed, finger pausing over a shard of dragon horn.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Wild shook his head, his heart beginning to race. He needed to tell Time but he still couldn’t figure out a way to do that safely just then. He could see Time crinkle his eyebrows but thankfully he said nothing.

“Okay, would you like some help getting the pot then?” He asked gesturing to the pot that was sat next to the fire.

“That would be very helpful, thank you,” Wild said with a weak smile and Time nodded and went to set up the pot for him. Soon the pot was filled with various lizard and monster parts and set to boil. The task done Time and Wild sat in silence watching as the sky began to turn a light shade of pink at the edges.

“I need to talk with you all about what’s happening.” Wild said suddenly and Time shot him a glance.

“Oh, has there been developments?” He asked his calm voice belying his suddenly tense posture. Wild nodded before he continued.

“There has, but I don’t know how to explain it to you guys safely.” Wild said head bowing in defeat. His fingers tracing lines in the dirt in front of him.

“Safely? What do you mean?” Time asked shifting his weight so he was turned to face him.

“Well I… it’s… possible that…” Wild trailed off not knowing how to articulate his thoughts. He didn’t want to risk alerting Dark that he suspected that he was listening in. Wild chewed on his bottom lip, an idea creeping in to the corners of his mind. Before he could think too much about it he decided to take a calculated risk.

“I’ve been worried, that we aren’t alone. What if there’s something in the shadows listening in? Watching us?” Wild finally said as he began to write in the dirt in front of him and glanced quickly at Time. Time said nothing, only looked at him with an odd expression of confusion and sudden tension. Wild prayed to Hylia herself that Time understood what he was getting at. Slowly Wild stopped writing and met eyes with the older hero again before moving his eyes exaggeratedly down towards the ground in front of them.

Wild had carefully wrote the word ‘trust’ in the dirt with an arrow pointing towards himself. Making sure Time was watching Wild drew a line through the word.

‘Don’t trust me’.

There was no way of knowing if Dark was actually spying on them let alone how he was doing it, but Wild had to try something to get his message across. Wild just hoped that Dark wouldn’t be able to see him drawing in the dirt. Wild could see Time glance at the ground before he opened his mouth to say something but Wild shot him a terrified glance. ‘For the love of Din, don’t say anything.’ Time caught the message behind the look feigned a yawn before stretching his leg out, surreptitiously erasing the word.

“Well if that were the case I’m sure we would have noticed. But I’ll keep that in mind.” Time said leaning forward and idly doodling the letter ‘U’ in the dirt before drawing an eye over top of it.

‘Keep an eye on you?’.

Wild nodded slightly keeping his posture casual and his voice light.

“I’m sure you’re right, I guess I’m just jumpy is all.” Wild said as he watched Time continue to draw nonsense into the dirt obscuring the eye.

“How are you feeling? Are you in much pain?” Time asked slowly as he drew a series of eight stick figures of various heights into the dirt leaving room for one more.

“I’ll manage, for what it’s worth, I’ve got the pain mostly under control for now.” Wild said adding emphasis on the word ‘control’ and idly drew a ninth figure. He drew it a little farther behind the group of eight, it’s arm outstretched with a little sword held in its hand pointing at the backs of the others. Casually Wild added little lines connected to the ninth figure’s arms and legs, a parody of a marionette before adding a frowny face to the figure. Wild could hear Time hum in thought for a moment clearly thinking. After a minute Time began striking out the other eight stick figures and cast a quizzical eye towards Wild, a clear question in the act.

‘Take us out, one by one?’

Wild gave a another slight nod and swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat. ‘He must think I’m a monster’ Wild thought to himself before continuing in the most casual voice he could muster.

“I’ve learned some tricks in my past adventure that helped keep me going when the chips were down. Though I have to admit I’m not feeling quite like myself.” Wild said once again adding emphasis on the last part of his sentence. Wild could hear a small quiver creep into his voice. He felt Time shift uneasily next to him.

“Not feeling like yourself? How so?” Time asked cautiously his nimble fingers drawing an intersecting line across the ‘strings’ of Wild’s stick figure. Gods was Time asking him if he had a plan? Wild felt dread bubble in his chest. He had no idea how to answer that so he gave a small shrug instead instead of drawing anything.

“Have I ever told you about the times I’ve come in contact with the malice?” Wild asked his mouth suddenly feeling dry. He cleared the drawing away and drew small spirals in the dirt.

“Malice? That the stuff around the tower right? You had mentioned that it made you sick.” Time answered slowly, carefully placing his hands on his knees.

“It didn’t just make me sick. It felt like I was losing myself. I would lose chunks of time. One moment I’d be trying to sleep, and the next I would be standing in the remains of a monster camp. My thoughts felt muddled and broken and I felt so…” Wild trailed off, his hands gesturing in the air in vague circles as he tried to think of an appropriate word. “Angry? Frustrated? Like I wanted to brake things, or I don’t know. But it wasn’t myself.” Wild finished letting his hands drop back down to the dirt and smearing the spirals out of existence. He felt a pang of shame at that admission and he found he couldn’t meet Time’s eye.

“At one point when I snapped back to myself, I had my sword pointed at a traveling merchant. They looked terrified.” Wild whispered quietly, his voice hitching slightly. He felt Time shift again and this time Wild felt a hand land on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you feeling that way now?” Time asked as he leaned forward to get a look at Wild’s face.

“Not as bad fortunately. But it’s noticeable. I feel like I can’t get my thoughts in order. It’s frustrating but I haven’t experienced any blank spots in my memory which gives me some comfort.” Wild said his fingers traced the bruising on his forearm gently. Pain tickled at the edges of his mind and he stopped before it could break through his careful control.

“What happened then?” He heard a groggy voice pipe up from behind them. Wild gave a little start before he turned to see the tired blue eyes of Twilight staring at them over top of the pillow he held.

“Oh uh, I can’t really remember what happened, its all a blur with lots of blank spaces. I assume I tried to stay away from people as much as possible. I must have wandered for a while because I found myself at the spring of courage. By that point I felt dead on my feet and delirious from fever, and I don’t even know how I got to the spring.” Wild trailed off and rubbed his forehead trying to bring the foggy memories back into focus.

“I do remember collapsing, and I must have fell into the water because I remember how the cold water felt nice against my skin. Then I woke up at the feet of the goddess statue and I finally felt like myself again. I was still incredibly weak, but the fever had finally broken. From there I was able to get myself to a stable and properly rest.” Wild said with a shrug. Time looked from Wild’s pensive face to Twilight who had sat up fully and was staring at Wild. Twilight was clearly turning something over in his head, drumming his fingers on the soft pillow he held.

“You said you went to a spring, and you felt better?” Twilight ventured and Wild nodded slowly not entirely sure where Twilight was going with his question.

“Yeah I’m not sure how it helped but it did. So naturally whenever I had the misfortune of coming in contact with that hellish stuff I would hightail it to the closet spring. The recovery always took forever but it was never as bad as the first time I was exposed.” Wild said with a sigh.

“It sounds stupid I know, but going to the spring, it always seemed to negate the worst of the effects of the malice.” Wild said sheepishly letting his eyes drop to the ground again in embarrassment. He knew that Twilight didn’t really hold any faith in the Goddesses and he hoped he didn’t sound like a crazy zealot.

“That’s not stupid at all, in fact it sounds like a plan.” Twilight said his eyes lighting up with hope. Wild tilted his head in confusion not fully seeing the connection.

“A plan? Do you guys have springs for the three goddesses or something?” Wild asked as his sluggish thoughts finally clicked the pieces together. Twilight shook his head.

“Not exactly, but there are springs for the Light Spirits and one of those springs just so happens to be very close. I helped the spirits who live in the springs during my adventure. The waters healed me on more than one occasion. I wonder if they would help you now.” Twilight thought out loud and suddenly he seemed full of energy. He stood and began to pace.

“Now that does seem rather interesting. Maybe that’s why we were dropped here.” Time said as he gave Wild’s shoulder a squeeze. Wild didn’t know what to say, could it really be possible that this would work? He didn’t want to get his hopes up just yet.

“How can you be sure it will work?” Wild asked still not sure what else to say.

“There’s no way to know for sure, but it’s a chance. The trip shouldn’t take more than two days, and there are some monsters in the way…” Twilight said distractedly his fingers tapping his chin as he planned. Wild thought for a moment, Twi was right, it was a chance but what else could they do?

“Alright, I say we go for it.” Wild said with all the energy he could spare. Time slapped his back gently with a hardy chuckle.

“That’s the spirit, We’ll start making plans as soon as everyone wakes up.” Time said with a smile.

“Will you be okay for the journey?” Twilight asked snapping out of his reverie. Wild gave him a tired nod and jerked a thumb behind him towards the cooking pot.

“I’m making some potions to help keep me moving. I’ll make it.” Wild said reassuringly and Twilight squinted at the pot. A look of faint disgust flitted across his face when he saw what was boiling away. Twilight was about to say something when they heard the sound of heavy breathing and whimpering coming from the other side of camp.

The three of them looked over to where the sleeping group of Four, Wind and Sky were laying. Sky was beginning to twitch and gasp in his sleep, his brows creasing and a look of distress falling over his face. Time stood and started to walk over to Sky to wake him up but was brought up short when Sky gave a little cry and sat up suddenly dislodging Wind’s arm from over his eyes. Sky’s eyes were wide with the fading nightmare, his brow beaded with sweat.

“Sky, are you okay?” Time asked quietly a hand raised as if he was going to place it on Sky’s trembling shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just uh, had a nightmare is all. It was just a nightmare.” Sky said and it almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than Time. Wild squinted at him and examined Sky’s pale face.

“What was the dream about?” Wild asked eyes still squinted at Sky but the other only shook his head.

“I can’t really remember, but I know it wasn’t pleasant. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.” Sky dismissed shakily as he rubbed his eyes. Wild pursed his lips but nodded, they all had nightmares. He told himself he was just being overly sensitive due to his own recent issues with nightmares.

“Did you want to try to go back to sleep? There’s about another two hours before everyone should get up. You look tired.” Twilight asked softly. Sky blinked a few times and sucked in a deep breath to try to calm his breathing.

“I think I’ll stay up, I’ve had enough sleep for tonight,” Sky said as he seemed to finally collect himself.

“Alright, just be quiet. I don’t want to disturb the others just yet.” Time said in a hushed voice as he gestured around the sleepy camp. Sky nodded quickly and carefully untangled himself the rest of the way from the pile.

“Honestly I have no idea how they didn’t wake up.” Twilight snorted as he looked around the sleeping group.

“It’s been a long couple days, I’m sure everyone is played out.” Sky said kindly as he gently tugged up the blanket around Four’s shoulders. Wild looked away at that, he couldn’t help but feel reasonable somehow. Sky noticing Wild’s guilty face changed the subject.

“What do you have cooking there? Please say it’s not breakfast.” Sky joked as he scooted closer and wrinkled his nose.

“Nah, it’s a stamina potion. I’m making some for myself to give me a little boost during the day.” Wild explained giving the potion a quick stir.

“Actually it should be just about done. Would you mind helping me scoop it into some jars?” Wild asked Sky with a small smile.

“Sure! I’d love to help.” Sky said moving to Wild’s side grabbing spare empty bottles as Wild produced them from his slate. Time and Twilight left not long after Wild and Sky began to bottled the bright green solution, apparently to go talk with Wars about the plans for the day to come. As they were finishing filling the last of the bottles Sky covered his mouth as he coughed but waved away the concerned look Wild shot him.

“It’s okay, my throat feels a little dry, just need a drink. I must have been sleeping with my mouth open.” Sky said with a little laugh and a shake of his head. Even though Sky’s explanation made sense Wild couldn’t help but feel a little suspicious. There was no reason for it Wild knew but he still couldn’t shake the feeling.

“Are you sure? I can get Hyrule, maybe you’re getting sick?” Wild prodded and was met with stony silence.

“It’s okay, really. I’m fine.” Sky said after a beat and handed him the last bottle. Wild didn’t miss the slight tremor in Sky’s finger tips.

“Sky, maybe it would be better if you got looked at?” Wild tried again and was graced with a flicker of anger that sparked across Sky’s eyes.

“I told you, I’m fine. I swear you and Time are so overly cautious sometimes, it’s suffocating.” Sky said as he stood and brushed dirt off his pants. Wild felt stung by Sky’s words and he felt his eyebrow raise. That was very out of character for Sky, he was usually so patient and slow to anger, maybe that nightmare was worse than he thought? Wild opened his mouth to say something but closed it with a soft click. Was he being overly cautious? He could definitely see where Sky was coming from, he didn’t like being mother henned either. But there was something off and Wild couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I’m going to go and get cleaned up. Maybe you should too.” Sky said sternly as he turned and padded away towards his pack, clearly done with the discussion. Wild sat by the fire for a little while longer, feeling as though something of note just happened but couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was.

#legend of zelda #linked universe #wild linked universe #linked universe fanfic #linkeduniverse #fanfiction #my fanfic writing

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