#also faron is mentioned

[baileys-writing-desk]

The Morning Sun (“I’m here, and so is Four”)

After using all his healing magic, Rulie wakes up to see someone very familiar.

AO3

(check tags before reading)

A soft, distant melody drifts into Hyrule’s ears, slowly bringing him to awareness. His body feels blissfully warm, like something soft is covering him…and a slight breeze ruffles his hair. That deep voice…the beautiful song…why is that so familiar?

He takes in a breath and groans, far too weak to move, or to open his eyes.

“Look…ru…’t worked…”

Another voice, a much smaller one this time. The singing voice slowly comes to a stop. Wait—no… He liked the singing. It was so soothing…

“…rule.” The deeper voice returns. “Hyrule…you with us?”

…Who is that?

The traveler shifts under the soft material, a blanket perhaps, but this doesn’t feel like his bedroll. Far from it, in fact…the surface he’s lying on is smooth but wrinkly, almost a bit…scaly? What the hell…?

“Hey, can you hear me?”

…Oh, right. He is supposed to respond to that…but when he opens his mouth in an attempt to speak, only a croak comes out. His heavy eyelids still won’t open, and he can just barely move one hand up from under the blanket. But it is seemingly enough for the voice to know he is listening.

“Shh…it’s okay, boy. No need to force it, just take it easy. You were asleep for…quite a while.”

…How long?, he wants to ask, and who the hell are you? Letting his hand fall limply back down, he lets out another long groan. Soft murmurs can be heard from farther away…perhaps his brothers are here. And this voice…he should know who it belongs to…The curiosity overtakes him and at last, he weakly peels his heavy eyelids open.

Squinting at the harsh sunlight, he gazes up blearily to see a massive blur of colors: yellow, brown, white…a glowing blue? Something is glowing…or rather, more than one thing is glowing. Small blobs of yellow fade in and out, like little sparks of light.

Wait a second…is that…

“Ah, there you are!” The deep voice is slightly louder this time, chuckling slightly. “Good morning, Rulie.”

The mix of bright lights hurts the traveler’s eyes, and so he gently lets them slip back closed.

…Lanayru?

“Oh, the light bothering you? My apologies, boy.”

Hyrule slowly clears his throat, attempting to speak again. “Mmmm…” His voice comes out dry and raspy. “…’s okay.”

It all begins to click now. The wrinkly texture of the surface beneath him…it is that of Lanayru’s hands.

“Wh-why are you…” he continues, voice cracking before he can finish. Why are you holding me…

“Hm?” Lanayru doesn’t seem to follow. “…Why am I here? Ah, right. You can’t possibly remember that.”

Hyrule slowly puts a hand to his forehead, rubbing it to ease the slight aching. That was not the question he wanted… After a second of silence a smaller voice pipes in.

“Hey Rulie, it’s me, Sky. Don’t worry, you’re safe now. We went through a portal to my era while you were out, that’s why Lanayru’s here. And Four is doing much better, so you can relax, ok?”

Four?

“Wh…what happened to Four?” he mumbles. Lanayru says nothing.

“You don’t remember?”

Hyrule’s mind draws a blank. “…No.”

A long, drawn-out sigh, then Sky’s voice again. “It’s okay, Rulie, you’re still out of it. Can you look at me?”

He moans quietly. Just thinking about that scorching sun makes the aching in his head return. But perhaps he could try again…

Four…Four…

Why can’t I remember??

Slowly he turns his head to the left, to the sound of Sky’s voice, and blinks his eyes open, relieved to find he is no longer looking straight into the sun. Large brown shapes focus in front of him, with lighter, pointed tips. Lanayru’s fingers. He is lying in both of the dragon’s hands, cupped together to give him more room, like how anyone his size would hold a baby bunny.

And beyond that…Through the spaces between the fingers he can make out the blurry figure of Sky through the still-harsh sunlight. The ground isn’t too far beneath them…Lanayru must be sitting down, he figures. Bleary hazel eyes finally meet concerned blue ones, and Sky seems to be grinning, most likely with relief.

“Wh…what happened, Sky?” Hyrule croaks out. “…Where’s Four…?”

“I told you, Four’s fine. Because of you, Rulie, you used everything you had to heal him, I mean-“ Sky takes in a shaky breath. “…You could have died, Hyrule. I almost thought we were gonna lose you.”

Hyrule’s heart drops. “Oh…”

The pieces begin to emerge in his mind now, nearly all at once. The battle in Time’s Hyrule. The monster’s weapon bringing Four down. Four lying in the grass, bloody sword sticking out of him…

…oh.

No. No no no…

The traveler’s eyes widen and he lets out a strained gasp.

“Four, stay with me! Oh fuck, shit, I can’t stop the bleeding- HYRULE! Please-“

The magic is already pulsing off Hyrule’s hands as he thrusts them on the smithy’s chest. He doesn’t know how much he has left…but Four’s life is now in his hands. He can’t lose his brother, his friend…he can’t-

“Rulie? You still there?”

Lanayru’s voice brings him back. He shudders.

“I…I think I remember now…”

“Yes, very good,” the dragon replies. “What you did was quite heroic, boy. Nearly sacrificing yourself to save another’s life…Among the most courageous things a mortal can do, I believe.”

“Lanayru, I-“ He coughs from drawing in a sharp breath of air. “I had no choice.”

“I know, boy. I understand.” The Thunder Dragon’s low voice is soft and gentle. “Link—or, uh—Sky…please don’t be upset, he’s alright now, ok?”

Sky nods his head, eyebrows raised and gaze pointed down, toward the grass and the swirling white clouds of Lanayru’s tail.

“I grabbed you off Four,” the Skyloftian explains. “His wounds were no longer fatal, and I didn’t want you using all your magic, but you passed out in my arms. Do you remember that, Rulie?”

The traveler grunts, closing his eyes briefly…his vision has been clearing, but the sun is still a bit too bright for the state he’s in.

It comes to him like a dream.

“Rulie. I think he’s okay now—“

“Rulie, stop! HYRULE STOP. You’ve done enough-“

He can’t stop. Not until every inch of magic has been drained from his frail body. His eyelids begin to grow heavy…his vision swims, he’s barely conscious.

“RULIE!!” Someone is pulling him away from Four, but it’s too late, the last bit of magic fizzles out and the world is now a spinning blur of colors. His eyes roll back in his head and he falls limp in their grasp.

Hyrule slowly opens his eyes, gazing at Sky through the dragon’s claws. “…I do…” He swallows hard. “…How long was I gone?”

“Almost two days. We spent the night in Time’s era, but our location just wasn’t safe for you or Four. And bless Hylia, we woke up the next morning to a portal, was it a gift from the goddesses or a sweet coincidence I don’t know…but it sent us here. We weren’t sure how safe it would be with two of you unconscious, but we had to do it.” Sky sighs. “Thank Hylia we made the right call.”

“I saw the portal open,” Lanayru adds. “Right in front of me! I was flyin’ through the air, of course…I knew you were probably in the middle of something so I waited, until my Link came to me.”

“Yeah, Lanayru was a big help.” Sky grins at Hyrule, and then up at the dragon. “He took you, Rulie, almost right away. You two spent the day and night together, and the rest of us tended to Four.”

“Wait…you were with me the whole time?” Hyrule groans and puts his elbows beneath him, attempting to sit up. “…Lanayru, did you—“

“Woah-ho, easy now,” the dragon interrupts, gently pressing his thumb to the traveler’s back as the latter finally reaches a sitting position. “Don’t push yourself too hard, you’re still very weak.”

A red checkered blanket is draped over Lanayru’s other hand, where Hyrule’s legs and feet are placed. Carefully he pulls the blanket back, turning himself to face the open clearing where Sky stands.

“Did you…stay up all night?” he mutters, finishing his thought.

“Oh, heavens no.” Lanayru’s hearty laugh rings from above, and Hyrule guesses the dragon is smiling. “Old dragons need their sleep too. Don’t worry, I kept you safe in my robe. Nobody hurts you on my watch, boy.”

“That’s…really kind of you.” Hyrule smiles. “Thank you.”

“Ah, no problem, Rulie. Now you were asking where Four is?”

Before the traveler can respond, someone else steps into the clearing, rushing up to meet Sky. The pink hair and red tunic makes him unmistakably Legend.

“Hey Sky, I just wanted to see how he’s—“ The veteran gasps as his eyes meet Hyrule’s. “Oh Rulie, you’re awake! Three-damn it, you fucking idiot!”

Legend’s tone comes out as much more of relief than anger, but surely he’s at least a little angry at Hyrule.

“Language, boy,” Lanayru scolds. But Legend doesn’t seem to care.

“Why did you do that?! When I saw you I—I almost thought you fucking died!”

Hyrule gulps, breaking eye contact with his predecessor to gaze at Lanayru’s fingers.

“But I didn’t,” he says eventually. “I’m here, and so is Four. I did what was needed…”

“Well…maybe next time, don’t do that, okay? Rulie, you scared the living shit out of us! I was so fucking worried—“ Legend pauses, gazing at both the traveler and the Thunder Dragon. “…Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

Hyrule groans at his predecessor’s question. “Could be better, Ledge. I’m still really tired…”

“Hmph, well you look like shit.” Legend smiles teasingly. “No offense.”

Lanayru chuckles again, making the veteran raise his eyebrow in confusion.

“Allll right, Link. Perhaps that’s enough of the sailor’s mouth for now, hm?” Although Hyrule cannot see Lanayru’s face, he figures the dragon is doing his ‘disappointed dad’ stare. “Now tell me, any updates on Four?”

Yes, please tell me where the hell he is… Hyrule thinks to himself, gently rubbing his temples.

“I just got back from the lake, Mr. Thunder Dragon. He’s been in and out recently, but he woke up for a bit to talk to me. I think the water is really helping…we had Her Excellence replenish his bath this morning.”

Hyrule’s brow furrows. “…Her Excellence?”

“Ah, what is that dragon’s name? That blue one with all the water.”

Sky grimaces a bit, seemingly waiting for Hyrule’s reaction.

Oh.

“…Faron?” he squeaks out.

“Yes, Faron! That’s right!” Legend laughs. “Ah, she’s been so kind to me…I never asked for her name. Pity.”

“But Sky, you said…you didn’t want us going to see her.”

“I know, Rulie, this was an exception,” says the Skyloftian. “Faron has sacred water, and when she sustained critical injuries a while back…that water helped her recover. I’m not sure what effect it has on a Hylian, but I think it’s at least soothing Four’s mind. He took a nasty blow to the head too, you know. And you can’t fully heal concussions, right?”

Hyrule slowly shakes his head. “No…I wish I could.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. The water will hopefully do the rest. Besides…I never imagined something like this. Two heroes and two dragons, it’s wonderful.”

“Yeah,” Legend adds. “Naydra, thanks for taking care of my Rulie. You’re amazing.”

…Naydra?

The Thunder Dragon seems confused. “No problem…wait, what did you call me?”

“Legend!!” Sky bursts into laughter, nearly throwing his head back. “You got mine and Wild’s dragons mixed up again, didn’t you?”

“…Fuck. I’m sorry, um…”

“Lanayru.”

“Ah, Lanayru! Rats.” Legend snaps his fingers. “I mean…I was pretty close.”

“Don’t worry, it happens. And you’re very much welcome. When you fellas are here I’ll guard Rulie with my life! Right, Rulie?”

Hyrule nods, too lazy to turn his head back and look at the dragon’s face. He must be wondering who this Naydra is… Ever since meeting Lanayru, Hyrule hasn’t been too fond of Wild’s dragons. Not that he’d ever tell Wild, but the sight of them last time had him really missing Lanayru. So much so that it hurt to look.

“Well, you’re looking a bit better already,” Sky exclaims, smiling. “Do you think you’ll be able to stand? Because soooomebody here wants a hug.”

The Skyloftian gestures to Legend, who pouts in an attempt to hide it, but Hyrule can tell through the veteran’s puppy-dog eyes. After two days without Hyrule, he surely wants to hold his successor tight and never let go.

The traveler sighs. “…I think so.”

“Alright, I’m gonna let you down now, ok?” Lanayru leans forward, placing his hands on the grass, and slowly Hyrule scoots off, moaning slightly in the process. A wave of light-headedness washes through him after his feet touch the ground, and he grabs on to the dragon’s finger to steady himself.

“Woah there- be careful, Rulie.” Sky warns, rushing over to him. “I got you.”

Hyrule wraps his arm around Sky’s shoulders, and Lanayru sets the blanket down with his now empty hands. As the two heroes approach Legend, the Thunder Dragon rises back up to sitting with a deep exhale. His arms must be a bit tired…

“Rulie. Don’t ever do that again,” Legend scolds, but the pure relief is clear in his expression.

The weak traveler lets go of Sky and buries himself into his predecessor’s embrace, allowing Legend to wrap sturdy arms around his frail body and gently stroke his messy hair.

“I can’t guarantee it,” Hyrule mutters, voice slightly muffled.

“Yeah…I know. But maybe go for, like 80 percent odds?”

He chuckles at Legend’s joke. A little too promising… “Okay. I’ll try.”

Finally the veteran seems content enough to let go of the traveler, and as Hyrule steps away, he grins. The weakness in his legs has lessened a little, but he still longs to be back in Lanayru’s hands again. It was much more comfortable.

“Hey, I think I’m gonna go back to camp to let them know you’re awake,” Sky explains. “So you might have more visitors. Just stay here…don’t leave Lanayru’s sight.”

“I won’t, I promise.” He knows he wouldn’t have the strength to leave, even if he wanted to.

“Good. The others will be so relieved to see you.”

The Skyloftian heads off into the dense trees of the forest, where Hyrule assumes the rest of the group has set up camp. They must be so worried about me… A pang of guilt aches in his chest at what he must have put them through. At least now they’ll know he’s okay…

He slowly turns around, relying slightly on Legend’s shoulder to stay upright, and at last he sees the Thunder Dragon’s full body. Lanayru is beaming, fluffy beard a swirly mess and eyes containing their usual sparkle. His hands are rested on his crossed back claws and his tail drapes around him, white clouds shining in the sunlight.

“Well…it’s good to have you back, boy!” he exclaims. “Now come here. I think you need some more rest.”

Hyrule smiles softly in agreement. With Legend’s help, the traveler takes baby steps back toward Lanayru’s waiting arms.

[faroresson]

So we all know about The Boss telling Snohn to "use his instincts as a gamer" to sneak around (because he has no sense of smell its a whole thing)

but uh. I was playing Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (both cause I actually want to claim I've played every worthwhile metal gear game AND to get a better sense of Snavid's pre-Solid era story) and uh. um. Miller ALSO tells Snavid to use his gamer instincts to sneak around Zanzibar Land in the MGSHD port

[lanayru-the-water-god]

Faron (Dweller-centric)

Cordelia must tell the injured four-year-old Dweller about the cost of Lanayru’s healing powers.

(Lanayru is ~700 years old, 10 years after A Waterdrop’s Awakening)

Word count: 937

check the tags before reading!

“Hold still, Faronie,” Cordelia orders as she presses a cold, damp cloth to his forehead. Faron lies on the floor in agony, blood seeping from his many wounds. Cordelia had closed the door to the room, leaving the two alone so she could treat him.

“Ow…ow ow ow…” Faron hisses in pain, his cries tearing into Cordelia’s heart. She secures a bandage over the wound, before moving to another one by his left shoulder. “Oof, that hurts…it hurts a lot…”

“I know it does, but please let me do this, ok?” Cordelia keeps her voice soft, close to a whisper. “It will be over before you know it.”

Lanayru had created Faron four mortal years ago, giving him the name Brook. His spunky, reckless personality drew Cordelia away from him; she even grew to resent him. But now she can’t help but feel sorry for the poor man, weak and injured, in a situation he wouldn’t even be in had he been careful.

Faron Brook is never careful.

“Auuuggghhhh…” he moans, as she presses on his shoulder in an effort to stop the bleeding. He reaches out a hand, stained with his own blood, to touch it, but she gently grabs his wrist.

“What about hold still do you not get, Faron?” she scolds, loosening her grip for him to put his hand back down. “I’m trying to help you here.”

Am I being too harsh? I’m so mean to him…

Cordelia shuts the inner voice out, instead focusing on the task at hand. Bandage up this wound, and then…She moves her gaze to the rest of his battered body. Oh, sweet Lanayru…With this much blood, this much physical pain, the amount of lucidity he has is surprising. The color is gone from his cheeks now; she fears that if she doesn’t do this quickly he will become delirious. Or perhaps even worse.

“I…can’t—ah!—I can’t do this…anymore…” Faron mumbles, eyes closed and brows knitted in pain. “La…Lana—“ He attempts to raise his voice. “Lanayru—“

Cordelia gasps, slapping a hand over his mouth. “Faron, don’t.” Her heart skips a beat as her words come out angry and firm. “Please don’t call Mother. Don’t you dare.”

Slowly she lifts her hand away and returns to her work. Through his closed eyes he cannot see her beady stare, but she hopes he can understand from her voice.

“Why…why not?”

“Because Lanayru will fucking kill herself to save you, that’s why! She’s done it with the mortals, and there is no doubt if she sees your bloody beat-up ass she will use all her power.” Cordelia pauses, waiting for Faron’s reaction; she had never told him this before. It has been ten years since the Goddess’s last sacrifice, longer than Faron has been around. “Your wounds are not fatal, Faronie, and I cannot go that long without her again, I can’t—“

She falls silent, patching up the next wound with careful hands now tinged with the other Dweller’s blood. None of them had meant to tell him about Lanayru’s Healing Grace, this is the worst possible time, but she knows she had to. He needs to understand why he can’t call Lanayru to his side.

“And you never thought—ack—to tell me?” Faron chokes out. “I didn’t know Mother could…die.”

“It’s only temporary, Faronie. But she remains unconscious for over a mortal month. I will not let her do this to heal you.” Her eyes go wide at her own words. “Shit, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. Just that, you’ll be fine, ok? You are not like the mortals she’s saved, you’re better off than they were.”

“But…it hurts…” Faron whines, “please…bring her in—“

“I will not. Lanayru must never know about this, until you are recovered enough to leave this room. I’m trying to protect her.”

Footsteps click against the floor of the hallway. Cordelia freezes.

Lanayru is here. Shit.

She puts a finger to Faron’s mouth, as he whimpers quietly. The footsteps approach and there is a soft knock on the door.

Don’t say a thing, she mouths to him.

“Faron, honey, are you okay in there?” Lanayru’s voice calls out. “We have dinner ready outside.”

She can’t come in here, she can’t fucking come in here. Okay, Cordelia, think-

“He’s, uh…he’s asleep,” she blurts out. “Hadn’t slept in a while, needed a long nap.”

A brief silence washes over the room, through the closed door.

“Oh, okay,” Lanayru replies. “I guess I shall let Faronie sleep, thanks for telling me.” The Goddess’s footsteps recede; she must not have felt the need to come in. Whew.

“Good lord,” Cordelia mumbles, pressing with the cloth. “Faron, you are such a pain. You would’ve gotten caught if I hadn’t saved your ass. And hers.”

The impatient Dweller finishes bandaging the current wound, moving on to one by Faron’s torso. Gosh, I still have a long way to go… The blood from lower abrasions has leaked onto the shiny tile floor.

“T-thanks…” he croaks, voice incredibly strained. “For, ah- for doing that.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice, you know.” She pauses, letting out a sigh. “And I’m sorry about the Lanayru thing. I hate that this has to be how you found out.”

“…’s okay,” Faron briefly glances at her with weary, bloodshot eyes, before closing them again with a groan.

“Just stay here, stay with me, and you’ll be better. You’re doing great, Faronie.”

She cleans the blood from his torso, slowly patching it up as he grunts in pain. Perhaps this will serve as a lesson for him to be more careful next time.

[wayfayrr]

Love like you ✧*.⚝⋆

Here's the 400 follower raffle grand prize for @wailing-whaler!! Got Sky and reader collecting rocks <3 This went a little off of the initial base, but they do definitely collect rocks together (what a geologist not going utterly obsessed with rocks? it's a miracle) But this was very fun to write!! just soft soft fluff with the soft sleepy boy himself.

[masterlist]

“I’m still sorry for dragging you into this by the way.”

“You aren’t, and you don’t need to keep apologising for something you would happily do again in a heartbeat.”

“I am - I really am, I didn’t mean to drag you here.”

“You are an awful liar.”

He drooped like a puppet cut from its strings at that, offended I bet for calling him out. Despite it being the truth, he knows as well as I do that he was bouncing from the walls when I was brought into the game, happier than I’ve ever seen anyone before in my life. And emotions are new for him, kinda. 

“No- I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Hmph.” 

“Come on, I’ve already said that I really don’t mind it, why are you still so pouty?”

“Cause I wanted to get out rather than trapping you here with me.”

Oh, that admission is new. He’s dodged the reason why he brought me here since it happened, so that makes sense more than anything… The way that he’s leaning on me is also new though, and nice despite his grumbles, which come to a halt as he snakes his arms around me and buries his head into my neck from behind with a soft sigh. 

“Look it doesn’t really matter right now, you’ve got to save zelda right? So we should really get going, gaepora asked me to help you and I really don’t want to make a bad impression.”

That got me a squeeze and a little whine, does - does he not want to save her?

“But no matter how fast I am impa is going to tell me I’m late anyway, so why does it matter… I just wanna spend time with you.”

…

How does he know that..?How does he know what will happen??? He - this is his first time going through this journey… right? But it isn’t is it, even though he’s been trying to act like it is it’s not. I’ve played through this game once already, and he can remember that. The acceptance of it is like a cold chill down my spine, Link already knows me and has been pretending that he doesn’t, half-heartedly but still pretending. Or has he? Just because he hasn’t said it outright doesn’t mean that he’s trying to hide it, maybe he just assumed I knew already. Either way, would I be bothered by him hiding it? It’s not insidious or anything, he’s just like a lovesick puppy. 

“...Love? You - are you alright? I didn’t say something wrong did I?”  

“I was just thinking… link did you know about before?”

“Before? You mean your other playthrough right?”

Well that settles that, he wasn’t trying to hide it. It was just never mentioned, no reason for it to be honest. No one on skyloft needs to know their entire life is a game which could be very easily overheard on the tiny island and sky thought that I knew he knew so why reiterate the obvious already. 

“Sure I didn’t remember completely right away but going through Faron with you here- here brought everything crashing back so quickly.”

His grip on my waist tightened for a split second before loosening, like he’s not sure if I’ll want to be held close now that he’s sharing this. It’s only made clearer by the sigh he lets out as he takes a step away from me.

“I mean I remember remembering you when I tried to get out now, it was like… like when you fell here, on skyloft that is, everything got locked away but since we met the elder kikwi, everything has come back including how felt about it all and how I fell in l-!”

“How you ‘fell in l-’, why’d you cut yourself off there link, I’d love to know what you were going to say.” 

Almost by instinct, my head turns to follow him as he’s fumbling about in his own flustered embarrassment, having said just a tiny bit more than he’d probably meant. Stopping himself mid-word so sharply you’d think he’d bit his tongue to force himself to stop, but not soon enough that I didn’t know what he meant anyway.  

I won’t lie to myself. It’s something strange to know, and honestly all of this is making way more questions than it answers. Questions that it will be pretty hard to get answers too really, for one he and I both know this is a game and yet I’m here - he’s practically a person and… and he’s said it himself. He fell in love with me. But, I don’t dislike that. I really don’t dislike that. 

“I - I fell in love with you, and how you act and all the little things you do and how you make even the smallest things seem exciting, and it’s why I wanted out so badly so that I could hold you close and tell you how much I love every part of you, from the way your hair falls, to the way you smile, how you collect things that others wouldn’t see worth in but you give them so much worth. I can’t even tell you just how much I’ve wanted to get out even if just for a second to hand you a crystal or even a cute pebble I think would bring a smile to your face - even if it meant I’d go back to being trapped in this hell afterwards.”

My face feels like it’s about to set alight, and not from being on an active volcano. He’s still rambling about what made him fall for me, and it’s only getting more and more natural, he’s getting more and more human over time. More real. As with all good things though, it has to come to an end with him looking up only to realise that he’s been going on for a good few minutes now. Ceasing up like a deer in headlights as he struggles to move his mouth again, almost reflexively licking his lips before glancing down confusedly. Better to break through the awkwardness now so that it won’t get any worse. 

“You know, I wouldn’t be against having a relationship with you…”

“- You wouldn’t - I thought that you… you’d… you’d-”

“But.”

“...b-but?”

“I think I’d like to get to know you first link.”

“Wh - What..?”

“Well, right now I haven’t spent much time with ‘you’ you, and I don’t think it’s fair for you if I’m dating you expecting to you to be exactly like the character the game had you as.”

It’s easy to tell he’s thinking about it, with the hurt but pensive look on his face from being denied something he so clearly wanted a yes to. 

“But, I think I’ve been starting to fall for you too, for who you are link. I’d like to spend some more time with you before we have anything romantic.”

He perked up at that, a lot. Which I don’t blame him for. 

“There’s plenty of time for that then, we aren’t in any rush are we?”

“But zelda-?”

“Even if we were to teleport to the end of the dungeon we’d still be too late. Why not take it slow?”

Despite his leather gauntlets his hands are still nice to hold with how he’s intertwined ours, sneaking his fingers so that they snake between mine. Pulling my hand up to rest up on his cheek, leaning into it with a gentle sigh. 

“You’ve talked about wanting rocks from Eldin to study before, how it looked like a different volcano to anything you’ve ever seen. What if we just I don't know, went off and got you as many as you could ever want of them?”

His eyes look almost pleading, begging for me just to say yes, to give him this precious time so that he can win me over to being with him romantically. And really, how could I dream of saying no? Since ending up in skyloft those few weeks ago he’s been nothing but kind, patient and caring towards me and plus even though I said I wouldn’t compare him to the character he’s come to life around, he’s still link. Still the kind-hearted hero that I fell in love with when playing the game for the very first time, who i grew to wish was real when reading comics about his journey, why shouldn’t I be a little selfish when he cares for me as much as I do for him?

“I-”

Biting down hard on his lip now, the pleading look in his eyes switching to something more akin to outright begging. Just for me to say yes. As if there were any other options available to me. 

“I think I’d love to do that with you sky, as long as you’re certain we have the time.”

No words needed to be said after that, his face lighting up like the sky at a new years celebration. I swear if you looked closely you’d be able to see the very fireworks he was initiating in his own eyes. All the while his face was graced with the softest grin I could have hoped to see. It was definitely the right thing to say. 

“So, do you have anywhere that you think would be good places to collect some?”

“You really think after all this I wouldn’t have somewhere nearby in mind?”

“It doesn’t hurt to ask though, does it?”

“Well my pride might have gotten a little bruised, but that’ll heal in time.”

“...Do you reckon a kiss could help speed up that healing?”

“...”

“Link? Are you alright?”

“Are- would you do that for me?”

“If it’ll help fix your pride then, of course… wouldn’t want an injured hero would we?”

That shut him up well and truly, not even his usual confused soft stutters could be hurt as it seemed his code bluescreened at that idea. A full reboot happening in the time it took his face to go through a multitude of different emotions, settling on a gentle, yet mildly confused, look of contentment. Kinda spelling out his answer for me, but still, I’ll wait for clear consent before doing anything more forward than a suggestion. 

“...”

“Take your time, there’s no rush on an answer.”

A nod. Clearly he doesn’t feel comfortable speaking right now, but that's more than fine. It’s not exactly like I’m not used to him being mute again, if anything it’s not an awkward silence as he leads me over to the spot he was thinking of. A small patch to the south of Eldin, littered with just so many different stones. A dream spot for any collector, so close to an active volcano to get fresh samples well as fresh as you can get without quenching the lava. 

Will they even be able to come back out with me? Link seems to think he would have been able to come out of the game, but that only dragged me in here instead. Can I even get - don't ruin this moment with that line of thinking. We can figure that out later. 

“Hey [name], mind coming over here for a moment?” 

“Hmm? Sure, it isn't an issue.”

Speaking again now is a good sign, clearly his brain - does he have one? - has finished dealing with the bombshell I dropped on it earlier. Moving over to him isn’t a bad thing to do though, with whatever he’s holding seemingly a pleasant surprise. As soon as I’m back in front of him, he takes my chin in his hand delicately tilting it upright as he stares into my eyes. Biting down on his lips as he thinks of what to say, lifting up his other hand to my eye level, like he’s comparing whatever he’s holding to them. 

“...It really is the same colour.”

“Oh, why didn’t you tell me we were doing that, I would have been looking as well.”

“No, no collect whatever you’d like for your own collection, I just… wanted to do something where I could still just um… admire your beauty really. If you don’t want this one then, I- I can just keep it instead.”

“I’ll keep it. Thank you link, but really now we've got to get you one too.”

[skoulsons]

minor totk spoilers

-

so. I just think it’s so funny that like… six years ago (and even up until totk was released), people were goofing off in the Faron region and elsewhere of botw and being like “whoa look at these statues and hints at an ancient civilization” and then theories every five minutes about the zonai and who they were and what they were and their whole deal and all that good stuff. and everyone was like “man I hope the sequel does something about this bc it’d be pretty cool to have this all in canon”

and not even two minutes into gameplay and Zelda is like “ZONAI ZONAI ZONAI LOOK AT ALL THIS ZONAI STUFF LINK DID YOU KNOW THE ZONAI ARE A THING AND THAT THEY MINGLED WITH THE HYLIANS TO CREATE HYRULE AND THEY LIVED IN THE SKY AND HAD POWERS”

not to also mention- hearing Zelda say “Demon King” had me doing somersaults around my room. Ganondorf my king how I’ve missed you

I guess we got what we asked for 😭

[hugsandchaos]

Proper Introductions

Summary: Proper introductions to the group leads to Danny getting a new wardrobe and a sword.

Credit for the armor design goes to @nerdypear4!! Thank you so, so much for allowing me to use your design in the story!!

Word count: 3,258

“So what’s your name?” Wind asked. He and Wolfie walked on both sides of the new member. The early afternoon sun shone through the branches and made the stranger’s dark hair and Wolfie’s dark fur look a little funny when they passed under those spots. The stranger looked at him with eyes a shade of light blue that reminded Wind of ice. He couldn’t be much younger than some of the others, but he was definitely a little bit older than Wind.

The three heroes, four if you count Wolfie, were heading back towards the rest of the group with their newest temporary member in tow. The stranger seemed to snap out of some sort of trance and glanced at him.”My name’s Daniel, but pretty much everyone just calls me Danny. What about you?” He asked. His odd bag on his back made a slightly funny noise as he walked, probably just the contents inside, like that weird red bag from earlier. He’d tightened the straps earlier to prevent it from moving around, so it was practically hugging him. Wind had seen big bags before, but that one was odd.

Wind almost said “Link”, but managed to stop and correct himself.“Well, we all have the same name, so we go by nicknames based off our adventures. I’m Wind, and I have a lot of questions.” He said.

“Me too. You go first.” Danny said. For a split second, the corners of his mouth moved upwards in a smile.

“First, why are your ears round?” Wind asked. Up ahead, Sky and Hyrule both froze and were going to turn around to silently scold Wind. They didn’t know why, either, but for all they know, it could’ve been something he’s had since birth and didn’t like talking about. Yet Danny only looked surprised for a split second before answering.

“Uh, I think the only explanation I can give is the fact that I’m a human.” He replied. Human. The three of them remembered that word. Sky was constantly mistook for one on his adventure, and Twilight mentioned that he grew up in a village full of them. It was also him to explain that probably the only physical difference between them was the fact that humans had round ears while hylians had pointed ears. Not everyone paid attention to that detail, so it wasn’t a surprise that Sky was mistook for one.

The two older heroes continued ahead, with Sky leading them. Wind briefly eyed that part of Danny, not really paying attention to the path ahead.“So you’re not a hylian? Huh.” He said, taking on a more suspicious tone than he meant to. He fixed his expression and smiled.”Your turn.” He said, turning back to look ahead.

“Cool. Where are we?” Danny asked. They all took a step over a fallen log, and both Danny and Wind paused to make sure Wolfie hopped over okay.

“Faron Woods, my world.” Sky replied.

“Never heard of that place, but okay.” Danny said, turning to Wind.”What’s your next question?” He asked.

The young hero had lots of questions, and it was a little hard to pick the next one. He ultimately decided on one Hyrule would probably ask him soon as well.“You were stitching up your wound earlier. Are you a doctor?” He asked.

Danny shook his head.“No, I’m far from the real thing. It’s just that... It’s just something I picked up, I guess?” He said with a shrug.”One of my friends is a doctor, and I was curious about a few things, so I asked a couple questions. Next thing I know, he’s teaching me how to treat my own wounds incase he’s not around.” He explained.

“There you guys are!”

Wind and Danny looked up towards the front of the group. Legend was walking towards them looking a little relieved and annoyed at the same time. When he noticed Danny, however, his expression hardened into a glare.”Who is that?” He asked. Danny stopped mid-step for a second, but then continued as if he never stopped. It lasted barely long enough for Wind to notice. Danny opened his mouth to respond, but Sky spoke first.

“Let’s meet up with the rest of the group first. This is important.” He said. Legend gave Danny another glare, but didn’t argue and turned around to walk with them the rest of the way. After ending up in Sky’s world, but on the ground instead of the sky, he led them to some ruins that would provide some cover if they decided to camp there since some of them were nervous about making repeated journeys up and down.

After getting back to the rest of the group, Sky immediately went to explaining why the kid they brought back with them was now a member of the group. Danny glanced nervously between all of them and tensed up a little with the several pairs of eyes on him as Sky spoke.”The sword said that he’s from another world,” was how he started the conversation. No one even got a chance to ask who Danny was or what he was doing following them.

“What?” Time asked, taking on a more serious tone than normal. He glanced over at Danny, who briefly froze before shrugging his shoulders.

“I hardly know what happened myself. I was just walking through the woods and it opened up from underneath me! Then it just spat me back out somewhere over there.” He explained, pointing back the way they came with his thumb. Either he was acting less upset than he was or talking calmed him down somehow, because he grew less tense when he told his brief story. Wolfie stood next to him, occasionally glancing at his side. Probably eyeing the bandages underneath his shirt.

It was confusing how the boy had gotten comfortable with Wolfie so quickly seeing as he wasn’t freaking out over him being so close, but they weren’t going to ask that. Not yet, at least.

After a moment of silence and shared glances, Four approached him.”I’m Four. Do you remember anything besides the portal? A black lizalfos, maybe?” He asked.

“Danny, and no. I don’t even know what a lizalfos is, but I think I hit something on my way down, before I hit the ground in front of whatever that red, ugly thing was.” Danny said, briefly introducing himself before getting to the point. That response was... worrying.

The fact that he didn’t know what a lizalfos was, and apparently hadn’t seen a bokoblin before a few minutes ago, didn’t sound good if he was going to be traveling with them. Unless his world just didn’t have those, but still had monsters. That thought brought a bit of relief to the group. While it would be a neat thing to have a world with no monsters at all, as surprising as that sounds, that could mean that Danny had no experience fighting them. That would be pretty bad.

He didn’t appear to have any weapons or shields on him, unless they were in his backpack. He didn’t seem to have any armor on, either. Unless he knew a thing or two about using weapons, but just didn’t have them. Sky opened his mouth to speak his thoughts of lending him a sword and teach him if need be, but Danny interrupted.”Thanks again for the save, by the way.” He said, glancing at the group’s furry companion. Wolfie huffed and nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly.

“Wolfie helped you?” Four asked. Sky’s face fell a little. He would wait until Danny explained, but he hoped it’d be quick. Danny looked back up at Four.

“Yeah. Not gonna lie, I thought he was a husky because of his fur color.” He replied. Before anyone asked anything else, Sky took the chance to get their attention again and cleared his throat. Four and Danny both turned to him, along with everyone else.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I think we have a more important issue here. Daniel, have you ever faced a monster before?” Sky asked. Danny hesitated before answering, looking thoughtful before shaking his head.

“No, not really. I don’t think I’ve even seen one until now.” He said. The atmosphere changed drastically, and the silence that followed his answer was a little heavier with the realization that he was basically defenseless. No armor, no weapons, and no knowledge of monsters?! The decision seemed obvious, especially as they glanced between each other. Danny seemed to come to a similar realization as his expression shifted to worry.”How many are there?” He asked.

“A lot.” Legend said, reaching into his bag. He rummaged around before pulling out a tunic and undershirt. He walked over to Danny and handed them to him.”Here, these will give you better protection than that shirt and coat.“ He said. Danny seemed a little surprised and very quickly glanced up at his face, then back at the clothes, before reaching out and accepting the not-so-negotiable offer.”Do you have any knowledge or experience with bows, swords, or other weapons?” Legend asked.

“Thank you. And as much as I don’t want to admit this because of how you’ve all reacted so far, no. In fact, swords and bows are hardly used in my world. Not a lot of people to learn from.” Danny said. Everyone else pretty much guessed the first part would be the answer, but the bit about swords and bows not being used much in his world was a surprise. As much as it caught them off guard, the logic behind why he didn’t know how to use those weapons made sense.

“What about your bag?” Warriors asked.

“I don’t really recall packing a weapon, but I’ve forgotten when I have or haven’t packed something, so maybe I did.” Danny replied. He held the tunic and undershirt close to himself while he slid one of his arms out of the straps, then allowed it to slip down his other arm and caught it with his hand before it would fall off completely. Danny knelt down and placed the bag on the ground, supported by his leg.

He grabbed the dangling piece of metal and pulled it up the side, then over it. The bag opened up and he looked inside. After rummaging around, Danny looked at Warriors.”Yeah, no. I don’t have any weapons.” He said, closing his bag back up and standing up with one of his hand lifting it up by one of the straps.

Wild reached into his own bag and walked over to Danny as he searched the seemingly infinite space. He soon pulled out some chainmail and a piece of armor. He wordlessly placed it of top of the tunic and undershirt given to Danny by Legend.“Oh, thank you. Are you really sure this is necessary, though? Is it that bad that I shouldn’t walk around in my normal clothes?” Danny asked. Wild nodded and pulled out a sword from his bag. It was probably one of the swords he’s taken from dead monsters and gave to Four to fix up.

Danny was careful when he took the sword from his hand.“Okay. Again, thanks.” He said. He turned his head towards Time when he noticed him coming towards him.

“We’ll teach you how to use a sword. Here, these will give you better protection against rough terrain than those.” He said, handing him a pair of boots and pants he forgot to drop off at the ranch.

“Uh- Thanks. I appreciate it.“ Danny said.

If his world was really as harmless as it sounds, then he had done a fairly good job staying calm, but he was starting to freak out. Wolfie nudged his hand seeing his uneasiness starting to creep onto his face and Time backed away.

“Teaching you should be easy! There’s nine of us.” Wind said, hoping it would help. Danny opened his mouth, probably to thank them again, but then he paused with an odd look on his face.

“Wait...” Danny looked from one member to the other. Time realized Wind’s mistake as the human’s eyes finally fell on Wolfie. There were currently eight hylians, not nine. He was worried about Twilight’s secret being blown for a second.”A wolf using sword? I shouldn’t find that funny, but it kind of is.” Danny said. Some of the other members looked at Wolfie.

Sky was the one to change the subject again.”You can go into the ruins to change, but the rest of us should probably introduce ourselves first.” He said.

“Oh, right. I guess I’ll go first.” Legend said.

~~~~~(Small Time Skip + POV Switch)~~~~~

After everyone introduced themselves, Danny was brought into the ruins and left in a small room with no windows. After he had gotten changed, he folded his clothes and put them into his bag, then took a moment to just sit down and think for a moment. One minute, he’s walking through a forest hanging out with some Shades that approached him, the next, a dark portal with purple rims opened from underneath him and he fell through without enough time to react.

Then, he lands next to a weird red monster, gets cut by it, saved by a husky who’s apparently a wolf named Wolfie — and Danny himself isn’t good at naming, but seriously? Wolfie?? —, and now he’s apparently going with a group of people who have the same name so they use nicknames like Legend and Four because they’ve gone through a dark and purple portal before and they think they can get him home?

And they’re giving him armor and sword lessons?! It’s amazing how much can happen in just a few hours.

‘This is bad.’

Danny dug into his backpack for his phone. He had to contact someone back home quickly if he couldn’t get there himself. Who’s going to protect the town? What if his parents called the cops? What will he say when he returns? He went to his contact list and immediately tried calling both Tucker and Sam without thinking. It didn’t even ring. The young halfa noticed the service bars. They were gone. He internally scolded himself for not coming to that conclusion sooner. If he was in another world, he should’ve guessed that he wouldn’t be able to call anyone.

Danny took a deep breath and checked his text notifications. He hadn’t received any. Again, it was probably the clear lack of cellphone reception. He put it back into his backpack, but quickly pulled his hand out when he felt something cool and squishy brush up against his fingers. He grabbed onto both sides of his backpack and held them open so he could see inside.

Two black eyes blinked at him from their spot nestled between his notebooks and clothes. Danny’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, probably shout, but he was luckily cut off by a knock.

”Hey, are you okay in there? You’ve worn armor before, right?” Wind called out.

“Yeah, just a second!” Danny shouted back. He glanced between the door and the little shade in his backpack, then the door again.”No, I haven’t worn armor before!” He corrected himself. He looked down at the shade, who tilted half of its body in a way akin to a confused head tilt. Its core vibrated and sent a message to his own.

Confusion. Fear. “What’s happening?”

Danny wasn’t in ghost form, but he could still understand them. He lowered his voice to a whisper.“I’m still figuring it out. Look, you have to stay in here, okay? We don’t know if they like ghosts or not.” He said. The shade tilted back to its normal position and sent him another message.

Understanding. Worry. Patience. “Okay. I will wait.”

Danny smiled a little and zipped his backpack up with the shade inside. He went to put it on his back, but it felt a little funny with the armor on. The armor was a little snug and didn’t screw up with his binder, nor was it exactly itchy. It was breathable and surprisingly okay to move around in. It was new, but not bad. He picked up the sword Wild lent to him on his way out of the room and back to the main room of the ruins. Why they thought ruins were a good place to change, Danny will never really know. Sure, they provided walls, but still.

He immediately took notice of someone standing next to Time and Sky. Danny was pretty sure he wasn’t there before. He was probably the second or third tallest out of them and looked like he was wearing a dark pelt or something. Wind was right next to the door and raised a hand, which got the guy’s attention.”Twilight, come meet Danny.” He called. The one Danny hadn’t properly met glanced between Time and Sky before walking over to them. He seemed friendly, but appearances can be deceiving. That was a card Danny also had to play until he had a full grasp of the situation.

As he came closer, Danny took notice of something. Two somethings, actually. One of them was that the guy had the same marking on his forehead as the wolf, except in black instead of white. The second thing was that the pendant in his necklace looked almost the same as the rock Danny had noticed when he was petting the wolf’s head.

Was he... No, he was probably just looking too deep in a shallow lake. He just got here, he shouldn’t jump to those kinds of conclusions. Where was the wolf, anyways?

“Oh, hey, you and the wolf have the same markings. Are you two friends or something?” Danny asked. He wasn’t sure why he went with that instead of introducing himself, but that’s what happened. Twilight, the name Wind had called him, nodded and kept his smile.

What was that brief look for, though?

“Yeah, he helped me out on my adventure. Saved me from a fate worse than death. The mark just appeared after a while. Speaking of the wolf, I heard about how you were calm when he approached you and was a little surprised. Most people would attack a wolf approaching.” Twilight said. Danny felt the need to explain himself and shrugged.

“I don’t know if this part was mentioned to you yet, but I thought he was a dog. Besides, he was nice and helped me find my bag after taking down a red, ugly thing that was going to kill me, so I figured it was safe to trust him after I was told he was actually a wolf.” He said. Wind moved next to both of them and caught both of their attention.

“Twilight’s probably the nicest in the group, but he’s a great fighter, so he’s going to be sparring you.” Wind said. Danny’s eyes widened and he almost took a step back. He glanced back at Twilight, who was obviously a bit bigger than him.

He must’ve looked as anxious as he suddenly felt because Twilight spoke up.”Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine. We’re going to switch between defense, offense, and then we do both at the same time. It’ll just be to see how strong and fast you already are, and we’re going to wait until your injury’s much better.” He explained. Danny nodded. He noticed Wild practically appear next to him and offer him a wooden shield. As much as he didn’t want to, Danny accepted the shield with a “thank you”.

(I worry that it might be rushed or not very good, so if you have anything you think needs pointing out or constructive criticism, or any kind of feedback really, that would be really, really appreciated!)

[sapphicseasapphire]

It is I! The person who called Malon a woman of steel! Honestly something about your answer is so sweet but also horribly dark. Everyone Time knows will eventually die.

(Well, I don’t know about Saria, or the other Kokiri… no idea what happened to them in the child timeline. Or how their lifespans work… my only hope is that his little forest friends stay alive super long so that he isn’t as lonely…)

the dude’s gonna outlive his own KIDS. And that begins my next big question. Time likely had kids after becoming a God. And if that truly is the case, his kids are Demi-Gods. Would his kids be like Twilight? How long is the lifespan of someone who is only part God?

(Anon •••)

Okay. I read this and then literally paced around my dorm room thinking about how to properly answer this question without going on a million tangents about forest spirits and how Faron Woods from Skyward Sword is just the Lost Woods but before the Lost Woods were a thing and Wars and Wild and Flora and a million other things.

So here is my (hopefully concise) very much rehearsed response:

Time’s children are mortals. The way I treat Gods for this au is either you are one or you aren’t, and there’s no in between. Mortals can possess the powers of a God, either through genetics or having earned from a True God, but their lifespans are that of the average Hylian. And, like I said in my miscellaneous lore post, anyone with God Powers needs to Awaken them.

Time’s children are no exception. They have the potential to be very powerful, being the first generation direct descendants from the literal God of Time. They have their Marks, which are completely unique to them- no real resemblance to Time’s- but they cannot use their powers until they’re properly Awakened. And because God Powers are rooted in desperation, there’s a very good chance that Time’s children will never Awaken their powers.

There’s really only one example that I can give you that’s a) a fully fleshed out idea and b) not a spoiler, and that’s Twilight. God Powers, in their purpose, are not genetic. The potential, the strength, are all dependent on the amount of God Blood (icky wording) that one possesses, but what those powers do is completely unique to each person. Twilight Awakened his powers when he was very young, in a life or death situation. He had no other choice than to shift, and so shifting was the power he was given. I cannot stress this enough: God Powers awaken when there is no other choice.

I can’t imagine that Time and Malon’s children would ever find themselves in such a situation. When your dad is a God, not much can hurt you.

But yeah! Time’s story is extremely tragic! But we can take solace in the knowledge that he will not face eternity alone. As I mentioned before, Warriors will stay with him. Wild, also a spirit, is pretty much immortal as well. And so is Flora. I’m… not saying that it will be pretty. Thinking about Time’s fate has brought me to tears many times.

…. Hehehehe

[ganondoodle]

you know what i just saw some more of that weird ass reward for getting all shrines in totk, and tbh im still so

what is that?? there are no dog like sentient species in this version of hyrule?? the most is the sonau themselves but they got no tails??? i dont think anything in this hyrule has a tail like that? and sonau legs are pretty normalish human too areant they? they dont even have proper claws, just veguely longer fingernails- i guess there are the statues in the underground that kinda look like it (they dont got tails either tho do they??) but like ,,, theres nothing you can learn about them right? its never mentioned or even hinted at despite there being so goddamm much of the sonau still just up and functioning- their lil "material deposits" in the depths arent even withered beyond some plants growing on them, all their 'tech' (isnt it just .. magic tho? where the mechanism actually? its usually just some stone animated by green swirlies ... but ill mention that in another post) just runs perfectly like it was made yesterday

where does that thing come from?? and its supposed to the the HERO FROM THE TAPESTRY???? huh????? and its decked out in sonau clothing head to toe with clear gerudo refs too?? that so weird bc youd feel like there would have been some mention of this, especially considering that that thing is on the tapestry and impa(was it her? or purah?) RECOGNIZES ITS THE HERO FROM THE TAPESTRY???? like, CASUALLY even?? like a well known fact ?? did i miss some big lore part somewhere that talked about that dog gerudo sonau thing?? and if its on the tapestry that means it wasnt that long ago really (i mean ... all the sonau shit is still pretty much fully intact so arguing that they came and went in the time between totks past and botws past isnt that plausible either imo ..??) o how come you never see anything from that and yet its somehow completely known for them, and you cannot tell me she saw the abstract version of the hero and then looked at that armor and went thats the same bc two colors veguely matched or what?!! also given that its fully clothed in sonau stuff .. like the arms are literally raurus bracelets .. thingies, but then the sonau where supposedly a complete and unknown mystery until it suddendly came all raining from the sky and revealing its been there and EVERYWHERE the whole time apparently? with the most we knew was some flimsyly made stereotypical barbaric armor set in faron in botw? which i guess is also fully undone by totk since it shares absolutely zero in desing to the 'actual' sonau stuff we got in totk

and if it where some sort of descendant from the mix of kids rauru and sonai kinda .. must have had (unless they did away with zeldas bloodline stuff too .. which .. why even call it zelda anymore at this point lol) then again, where did those features come from (like the tail and red hair, the strange googly eyes? is there a mix of goron in there too??) and how was it then not documented or seen anywhere else?? youd imagine the mutant kids of the first tragically dead king and queen of this hyrule would be known in some way .. that is assuming it was that, but given the weird features no other species has still is ... it just doesnt add up

(i had the awful thoguht for a second that it might supposed to mean the gerudo came from that but .. the gerudo are already there LITERALLY the 1:1 same as in the present, just like all the other species ... which is also disappointing as hell, like seriously? not even different feather colors for the rito? literally the same clothing for the gerudo as in botw but white with golden stuff instead?? some vaguely different zora features? idk ? anything? also the hero would never be gerudo, we know only evil comes from that *explodes*)

if its supposed to be a mystery then they absolutely failed in making it any interesting or intriguing but still something that feels like its part of the world, like botw was very good at giving you mysteries you wanted to talk and theorize about that still felt organic, harmonic with the world, but in totk its all either boring answers or just ... completely out of nowhere and just kinda stumps you (in a bad way)

*sighs* yet antoher ramble rant, this game could have had it all, it was right there on the plate in front of them all they needed to do is grasp at it, why wouldnt you ..

totk will never not frustrate me huh ಠ_ಠ

[cutthroatcarnival]

Revered Deity, Unknown Hero (1/10)

This is a special one! Thank you @bokettochild for allowing me to write a fic using your God of War!Warriors idea! It was super fun to write. :)

Read chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Find it on AO3 here!

Divine and Draconic Differences

The skies were clear and the weather was pleasant as the heroes congregated outside of Wild and Flora’s Hateno home. It was peaceful, a nice and welcomed reprieve from the era before.

Wind, a still growing teenager, was overflowing with energy, tugging around an equally as eager Hyrule, to explore everything possible. He had his spyglass out, sweeping across the vast land of the Wild Era. Every so often, he’d hand his spyglass over to the traveler to allow him a go.

His telescope was focused on a chasm far out, watching the remaining wisps of gloom fade into the air. Mesmerized by the red-purple, he didn’t fully register the white-blue on the edge until it had blocked his view.

“Wild! What the fuck is that?!” Keeping his focus on the serpentine creature in the sky, he heard Wild approach his side with the familiar sound of him activating his slate’s scope mode.

“That’s Naydra, one of the dragons.”

That… didn’t look like a dragon. Dropping his spyglass from his eye, Wind fixed Wild with a stare. The scarred hero stared back.

“Don’t look at me like that. There’s three dragons, they’re all servants of the springs. Naydra happens to be the servant of the Spring of Wisdom, which is,” he grabbed Wind’s shoulder and spun him around, pointing to a mountain peak covered in snow, “right on that peak over there.” Wind moved his gaze to the mountain peak, following Wild’s finger. He could see the vague shape of pillars.

“Huh… so you have dragons too? They look different from mine.” Wind began walking back to the rest of the group, who had been listening in on the conversation, no matter how hard they tried hiding it. Wild took a few seconds to decipher the information, and ran to catch up with the sailor.

“What do you mean “you too”? I didn’t know anyone else had dragons!” Wind shrugged.

“Like I said, mine are different, like Valoo. He was a sky spirit I met during my first adventure. And the only one that didn’t try to kill me.” He plopped down next to Warriors, who offered the young hero one of the apples he had.

“Still! Does anyone else have dragons?” All hands went up except for the smithy, who looked utterly confused as he mouthed dragons over and over, eyes swirling different colors.

“In my defense, all of my dragons wanted to kill me.” Hyrule exclaimed, being seconded by Time, Twilight, Warriors, and Legend.

The five heroes delved into further conversation about their draconic enemies. Wind wiggled into the group, chattering about the gleeoks he fought. Wild chimed in about having to fight gleeoks as well, explaining about the King Gleeoks residing in hard-to-reach locations.

“The dragons I know serve Hylia.” A few grimaced at the mention of the goddess, but the dislike was outweighed by the curiosity of Sky’s dragons.

“The three of them were assigned to watch over different provinces of the Surface. They also protected the sacred flames, and held parts of the Song of the Hero.”

Wild was immediately upon Sky, spitting out questions with very little breaths between, all centered on what they looked like, if they had any powers, and anything of the sort.

“Of course they have powers, they guard and protect the Triforce. Even the gods wouldn’t be able to reach it with them guarding the key to it.

Gods and Goddesses were a touchy subject. Some were openly hostile towards them, others in the middle, and some revered them. Yet, the topic always raised an interesting thought; just how many are there?

“Do you think there’s more than just Hylia?” Came Four’s voice, eyes shining a curious violet.

“There’s the light spirits in my era,” Twilight rested his chin in his palm, “Ordona, Lanayru, Eldin, and Faron. They protect the regions they share names with.”

“Oh, and the Golden Goddesses! They’re the ones that submerged Hyrule!” Wind piped up, leaning against Warriors, who grimaced as the sailor’s sharp elbow dug into his thigh.

A soft hum emitted from Time, who had been running his fingers along his markings, a pensive look across his face. Wild bounded off of Sky, and settled next to Twilight.

“I know of one! Legends talk about a Fierce Deity… they say that if one dons his armor and mask they gain godlike power.”

Time gave a sharp inhale, and his fingers dropped from his face.

Others shook their heads, either not having any other gods, goddesses, or deities in their time, or having the same ones as someone else.

“Not anymore.”

Eight heads turned towards Sky, who had found a stick and was whittling absentmindedly, a stormy look across his face. They all shared a few glances- curiosity, and a little bit of fear.

‘Not anymore’?

“Oh! There is another- the Deity of War.” Hyrule broke the silence, fingers tying blades of grass into circles while his gaze rested on the other heroes.

“Isn’t that the same as the Fierce Deity?” Twilight cocked his head.

Legend scoffed.

“Many think that, but”, he stood up and turned so he was facing all eight heroes, “they are different. He’s the Deity of War, exactly as his name implies; a powerhouse on the battlefield, calculated and quick. The Fierce Deity doesn’t focus on war, he focuses on ferocity, on power, on courage. It’s in their names, it really is that simple.”

The veteran launched further into an explanation about the two, pointing out the similarities and differences, both surface level and deeper. Pointed ears all upright, revealing without words how invested they were in this newly learned-about deity.

Wild shot up out of his seat and ran to the house, slamming the door open, sounds of rustling and clanging could be heard, and the heroes remaining shared concerned glances. The current era’s hero came racing back out- not bothering to shut the door- with a book in his grasp.

“Legends Throughout the Ages” read the title of the book in intricate gold. The book itself seemed to be in good condition, missing the normal wear and tear they had seen on other things in the champion’s era.

“I know about him! Flora was talking about some books she had found in the castle,” he thumbed through the pages, “and she thought I would like this one… Aha!” Wild smoothed the book to lay flat on pages marked with blue fabric scraps.

On the pages were long paragraphs of stories and legends of the deity, exploring where he originated from and what eras his legends came from. Taking up a sizable portion of the right page was an image.

“Hey, he kind of looks like Warriors!”

Wind grabbed the book from Wild and pranced back over to the captain, who only raised an eyebrow at him, his now finished apple set off to the side. The sailor raised the book next to Warriors and basked in the ‘oohs’ when they realized that their youngest was right.

The picture and the captain looked nearly identical; only differentiated by the gold and blue markings on the deity’s face, blank eyes, and the color of the armor- a vibrant gold- and the tunic- a pale cream.

Snatching the book, Warriors scanned over the page, lingering on the photo a little longer.

“I don’t see it.”

That caused an uproar, as Wind and Wild both pounced on the captain, claiming that he was wrong and everyone could very well see it, while Hyrule just looked at the captain like he had grown a second head. The others groaned quietly.

There goes the relaxing day they were hoping for.

[mari3with3]

How the Zonai connect the The Legend of Zelda franchise (Theory)

In TotK we're explained that the kingdom of Hyrule was founded thanks to the union of the Hylian and Zonai tribes with the marriage of Rauru and Sonia. I've seen that a big part of the fandom thinks that this is not the true founding of Hyrule and that it's the creation of a new kingdom (since this has already happened before), but I think that it is the same Hyrule that we see in Minish Cap, Ocarina of Time, Twillight Princess, etc.

Why do I believe this? Because the Zonai existed during Skyward Sword and became extinct before Minish Cap.

1°- The Zonai in Skyward Sword

Throughout Skyward Sword, in the surface we can see ruins, temples, dungeons, etc. I believe that most of these constructions were built by the Zonai: The Skyview Temple has mechanisms which work with eyes, the Earth Temple is full of symbolism and sculptures of dragons (and also has sculptures of people with fangs, long ears and three eyes), the Ancient Cistern has symbols of what appear to be tears and also flowers of lotus (which personally remind me of the figure that has the Zonai symbol from TotK), the Sandship has many spirals and in the Fire sanctuary there are statues of more dragons. Also, most of the dungeons I just mentioned (aside from being almost completely abandoned) have spirals in their architecture. As you can see, the Zonai probably inhabited all of Hyrule just like in BotW, since there we can see Zonai architecture throughout the entire kingdom.

2°- The symbols

The features that the dungeons have are eyes, dragons/snakes, owls, tears, and spirals; we can easily relate all these symbols to the Zonai, because there are many of these in their ruins. Throughout the Faron region there are statues of boars, owls and dragons/snakes; These represent the golden Goddesses and their qualities: power, wisdom and courage. In TotK we can see that the eyes represent the Zonai (in weapons, architecture, jewelry and the extra eye on their foreheads). The tears can be related to the secret stones, which have the same shape as the tears, and are apparently a very important element in the Zonai culture.

And finally the spirals, the most important symbol. Before TotK, spirals were the symbol of the Zonai tribe; In BotW all Zonai architecture was full of spirals (architecture which you can find in basically all Hyrule). According to Creating a Champion, the spiral is a unique mark to show that the Zonai were there and that the place belonged to them; This is why I believe that the dungeons in Skyward Sword were built by the Zonai. (Interesting fact: as I had already pointed out in another post, the Māori patterns are traditional art from New Zealand, one of them is a spiral and is called Rauru)

3°- The Lanayru Desert

The Zonai made buildings throughout the surface, but I believe they had one special settlement; Lanayru. Long ago I thought that the Lanayru Mining Facility belonged to the Sheikah, but now I'm almost sure it belonged to the Zonai. Here are my reasons:

The Zonai had an incredibly advanced technology for their era, in the same way, the entire Lanayru region in general has very advanced technology: artificial light, flying robots, laser rays, automatic platforms, electricity, etc.

Throughout Lanayru there are all kinds of technology and robots, if you look at their designs you will notice that they have an aesthetic very similar to the Zonai. (Another detail is that these robots work with blue/green electricity, the same color as the electricity that the Zonai Constructs have)

The ancient robots that inhabit Lanayru have many kinds, each with a different function (just like the Zonai Constructs), and it seems that most of them suddenly stopped working while doing their daily jobs. It seems that they worked for someone and then they disappeared, similar to how the Zonai became extinct.

The Lanayru Mining Facility, as its name says, is where they used to process all the Timeshift Stones that they had obtained in the mines. In TotK the Zonai also had mines where they collected Zonaite.

As I mentioned before, throughout Lanayru there is a mineral called Timeshift Stone, which has the power to change the time around it. These stones have a dark blue color, and when activated they change to light blue/green; When these pass through the Lanayru Mining Facility, a design that looks like an eye with eyelashes and a tear is added. Previously that eye would be related to the Sheikah, but with all these connections it would make more sense for it to be related to the Zonai.

4°- Origins of the Zonai

All of this points to the fact that the Zonai inhabited Lanayru and that everything there belonged to them; That means that the Zonai protected the temple of time and Nayru's flame, which leads me to think that they also protected the other two flames. As I had previously said, all the temples where the flames are have details that make them related to the Zonai. But why do the Zonai have access to these sacred artifacts?

In TotK we are told that the Zonai are descendants of Gods, and these gods were the ones who gave them the secret stones (which are also sacred artifacts). In Creating a Champion we're told that the Zonai worshiped a certain water dragon, however, in the BotW era there is no water dragon (It could be Farosh, but it's more related to electricity). But, in Skyward Sword there is a water dragon, Faron.

I believe that the Zonai are descendants of the dragons from Skyward Sword (which are basically gods). That would also explain why most temples are made for the dragons and the appearance of the Zonai and their dragon-like features too (scales, horns, fangs, bright colors, etc.)

5°- The tears

So the Zonai, being descendants of dragons, were entrusted to protect sacred artifacts such as the secret stones, the Gate of Time in Lanayru, the flames of the Goddesses, and probably also the Sacred Tears.

In Skyward Sword, when Link goes to the Silent Realm he has to find the tears of the goddesses. There are two very important things here:

After TotK we relate a lot the tears with the Zonai, and in the Silent Realm we have to collect sacred tears. Also in the Silent Realm (and only there) we will find many ''dusk relics'', which have the same shape as the secret stones.

In the Silent Realm there are machines called Guardians, which have an incredible resemblance to the Zonai (Extremely tall, with long ears, three eyes, and they also have many spirals on their desing).

Another game where there are also tears that must be collected is Twilight Princess. Here the spirits of light ask you to collect all the tears in order to restore the world of light.

6°- Connection with the Twili

Another thing I want to point out and that a big part of the fandom has noticed is the big resemblance that the Zonai and the Twili have, but I still want to show more evidence of why I think they are connected:

The spirits of light tell us that a dark tribe known as the Interlopers tried to take over the Triforce using their magic, it was then that the spirits of light stopped them and sent them to the twilight realm.

In Twilight Princess they describe the Interlopers as a tribe with incredibly powerful magic (so much so that they almost got the Triforce). In Creating a Champion they describe the Zonai as “strong magic wielders who vanished suddenly,” similar to the story of the Twili.

The architecture of both tribes is very similar; The architecture in the Twilight realm is very similar to the Zonai which we see in the Dragon's Tears. Inside the palace of Twilight we can see that the building is full of figures that look like eyes with tears, hands, snakes and spirals.

Eyes and hands seem to be very important in Twili culture as well as in the Zonai (There are giant hands in the palace of twilight and even Wolf Link has the mark of a third eye with a tear on his forehead).

The Twili have technology similar to the Zonai's (platforms, switches, etc.)

The magic of the Twili is blue/green, a color we associate with the Zonai, and when something or someone bad controls both, they turn red. Another thing to add is that when we saw the TloZ TotK logo, many of us related the cracks of the master sword with the magic of the Twili.

In BotW, in the Faron region, there is a fragmented monument which is very similar to the twilight mirror and which also has the same color as Twili/Zonai magic.

Despite being a tribe of shadows, they have artifacts called “Sol” which are made of light.

A very important piece of evidence that the Twili and the Zonai are connected is the design of the Fused Shadow. The Fused Shadow (in addition to appearing to be made from the same material as most Zonai architecture in TotK) has spirals, snakes, and eyes.

Another detail about the Fused Shadow that has been talked about for many years is that one of its pieces seems to be one of the eyes of the Majora's mask (I also once saw that someone was comparing one of Rauru's eyes in the mural with Majora).

7°- Majora

In Majora's Mask we are explained that an ancient tribe used to wear the Majora's mask to perform rituals, then they sealed the mask in shadows to avoid catastrophes, and then they mysteriously disappeared. It has been three times that we have heard about a powerful tribe which mysteriously disappeared, it's not weird to think that they could be the same tribe, the Zonai.

The manga explain us that Majora was originally a demon. Majora's armor could fulfill wishes, so many people tried to kill him to take his armor; However, Majora ate them. Afterwards, he was defeated by the Fierce Deity, who made him dance for 3 days and 3 nights until he died. The Fierce Deity used the remains of the demon to make the Majora's mask.

It may be that these people Majora killed were the Zonai, and when the Fierce Deity killed the demon, the Zonai thanked him by making a mask in his honor. I believe this because the Barbarian Armor (which is most likely of Zonai origin), when dyed blue or red, has the same marks as the Fierce Deity.

8°- Zonai appearances in other games before BotW

I don't have much to explain here, just more evidence that the Zonai could have been in Hyrule before the BotW era.

9°- History of the Zonai (my conclusion)

The Zonai are descendants of the three dragons that protected the surface in Skyward Sword. This tribe had very advanced technology and powerful magic. However, being so special, they had a small population

The Zonai had the mission of protecting the most important, sacred artifacts (the tears of the goddesses, the tears of light, and even the Triforce), which is why they came down to the surface in the distant past (The age of Creation, before SkSw). When they arrive to the surface, the Zonai took advantage of the resources that were there (the timeshift Stones) and with them created the two Gates of time and also the ocarina of time (The ocarina is a relic that has been passed down through generations in the royal family, it may have been a gift from Rauru to Sonia). However, by spending Lanayru's resources, a portion of the Zonai ended up dying along with all of Lanayru's technology.

When the Zonai descended to the surface, the Hylians and other inhabitants mistook them for Gods. The Zonai became so obsessed with the idea of being Gods that they tried to be one; So they looked for the demon Majora to kill him and take his armor, with which they could make the wish of becoming Gods, however the majority died in the attempt to defeat the demon. When the Fierce Deity managed to kill him, they made a mask of him and painted their armors in his honor, and the remaining Zonai decided to hide the Majora's mask to avoid further catastrophes. However, they did not give up trying to be gods.

When the ancient battle begin the Zonai were sent to build the Silent Realm for the Hero (that's why you have to collect tears and the guardians look so much like the Zonai). But in the middle of the war, a group of Zonai used their magic to create the Fused Shadow to enter the sacred realm (they were its protectors, that's why they knew about it) and obtain the Triforce, so they could finally make their wish. Unfortunately for them, the Goddesses found out about their betrayal and sent them to the Twilight Realm to punish them (Long time later, the other Zonai built a replica of the mirror of twilight, which is found along with the other Zonai ruins in Faron, to remember them).

At the end of the war, the goddesses gave the few remaining Zonai the secret stones, them decided to remain faithful to the Goddesses and protect the stones (It could be that, as gratitude, the spirits of light gave these few Zonai their light magic, that's why Rauru has sacred light without being related to Hylia). Throughout Skyward Sword the Zonai were hiding somewhere in the sky.

Hundreds of years after SkSw, the Zonai descended from the sky again; Rauru, who was the leader of the tribe (and was also a descendant of the Zonai who protected the stones and had the powers of light), married Sonia (who was a descendant of Link and Zelda from SkSw) and together they founded Hyrule. With the pass of time, the Zonai began to die and finally Rauru and Mineru died in the Imprisoning war, and the Zonai became completely extinct.

Alright, if you made it this far I want to thank you very much. If you have more evidence about this theory that you would like to add, or anything that contradicts it, or any comments, I would like to see it. :)

[crowroboros]

Tears of the Kingdom, Master Works, and the Zelda Timeline

Okay! So the Tears of the Kingdom Master Works has dropped and some translations have popped up online, including the Hyrule Chronology section of the book.

Why am I making this post? Simply put, I just want to get my thoughts on how the lore presented here and other materials such as interviews have changed my perspective on how Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom fit into the greater Zelda timeline.

Before TotK's release, I was in the camp that Breath of the Wild was in one of two places; At the end of the Child Timeline long after Four Swords Adventures in the same Hyrule. Or in a convergent timeline. I leaned more towards the Child Timeline placement however, as there being no mention of an inciting event that would merge all three timelines didn't sit right with me. Furthermore, I didn't think that the old world—the Hyrule that was established after the Interloper War—would survive such an event, and everything we had up till that point suggested that this was the same Hyrule as the past games.

With Tears of the Kingdom's release, I no longer believe that to be the case.

This stance has only been backed up as more and more lore details have been released. Everything points to the Hyrule we see in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom to be a separate kingdom than the one present in the old games. So what makes me think this?

Well to start, let's cover Hyrule's history as seen in the old games and compare it to the history that Tears of the Kingdom presents.

The Repopulation of the Surface and the Birth of Hyrule:

After the events of Skyward Sword, humans returned to the surface after millennia and began settling alongside the Goron, Parella, Kikwi, and Mogmas. These different groups end up developing and creating their own civilizations with the Triforce in the hands of the Hylians. Now, despite the defeat of Demise and the Era of the Sky having mostly faded into myth and legend, word of a powerful artifact still floated around the surface. These rumors fed into the greed present in some people, wishing for power to do with what they wish. Of course, the artifact in question was the Triforce. A group of sorcerers known as the Dark Interlopers began to organize and raged war against the Hylians in order to obtain the Triforce.

This is what is known as the Interloper War, and which led to the birth of the Kingdom of Hyrule.

To protect the Triforce, the Three Golden Goddesses sent in the Spirits of Light—Faron, Eldin, Lanayru, and Ordona—to use the Mirror of Twilight to banish the Interlopers into the Twilight Realm. After the Banishment of the Twili, the Hylian ancient Sage of Light Rauru hides the Triforce within the Temple of Light within the Sacred Realm, which could only be accessed from the Sealed Grounds within the Light World (Hyrule). Rauru then constructs the Temple of Time over the ruins of the Sealed Grounds and uses the Master Sword, the Pedestal of Time, and the Door of Time as a gateway and the Three Spiritual Stones serving as keys to opening that gateway.

To protect the Sacred Realm, the Master Sword, and the Temple of Time, the descendants of Skyward Sword Zelda—the Goddess Hylia reborn—then establish the Kingdom of Hyrule and entrust the Three Spiritual Stones to the Zora, Gorons, and Kokiri as a showing of trust between the groups.

This is the birth of Hyrule as we see it in every Zelda game prior to BotW/TotK. With the Kingdom being established long after the events of Skyward Sword, and before the events of The Minish Cap. So how does this compare to what Tears of the Kingdom and it's book Master Works presents?

The Zonai, The Imprisoning War, and the birth of Hyrule:

To start, we actually have to go back to the Creation of the World. The Creation Myth of the World presented here is pretty much identical to the one seen in Ocarina of Time and other Zelda games with one key addition: The Golden Goddesses also created the Secret Stones and put them in the care of the Goddess Hylia.

While the Triforce isn't mentioned here, I have no doubt that it exists as well in the same state as it did in the past games: Triforce imagery is seen all throughout Hyrule in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. So while it isn't directly mentioned, I don't doubt that it exists as well.

Long after the Secret Stones and the Triforce were created and the Golden Goddesses left the world to the Heavens, Hylia entrusted the Secret Stones to the Zonai people to protect and use them wisely. The Zonai then populate the surface and the depths, beginning their own civilization and mining operations for Zonaite to power their machinery. Eventually the Zonai abandon the surface and ascend to the sky, however their mining operations in the depths continue. During this period many different tribes spring up and form communities on the surface; The Rito, Gorons, Zora, Gerudo, and Hylians.

Facing the danger of a collapse, the Zonai abandon the depths and begin mingling with the surface people. They help out where they can using their knowledge and powers, however their population rapidly declines. Eventually, Rauru of the Zonai people and a Hylian Priestess Sonia meet and fall in love. The pair get married and begin the Pilgrimage of Light, purging the surface demons and placing Shrines of Light over the demon's point of destruction to prevent its reappearance.

The two, having gained a lot of respect and trust for their efforts to protect the surface-dwellers from dark forces, ascend as King and Queen of the Hylian people in a new Kingdom known as Hyrule.

However, not everyone on the surface is happy about the cleansing of the demons: Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, sees the change as the weakening of the surface-dwellers. He believed that only the strong had the right to exist, and that by exterminating the demons and dark spirits that terrorized the people of the surface that it would weaken the world and those within it. Thus he began a plot against Hyrule and the Zonai, which we see in Tears of the Kingdom as The Imprisoning War: Sonia is killed by Ganondorf—who takes her Secret Stone and becomes Demon King Ganondorf. The Gerudo split into two groups, those who are against Ganondorf and those who are with him. The Rito, Zora, Goron, and anti-Ganon Gerudo meet up with Rauru and the Hylians to stop the world from falling back into the war-filled, chaotic land it was before the Pilgrimage of Light. One member of each tribe becomes a Sage entrusted with a Secret Stone to help fight against Ganondorf. Rauru sacrifices his life to seal Ganondorf in the Temple of Light deep in the depths underneath the surface, and Zelda transforms into the Light Dragon to repair the decayed Master Sword that was sent back in time.

How does this connect?

So we have two very different origin stories for Hyrule that have some strong parallels: A Sage of Light named Rauru is alive to see the birth of the Kingdom and a war against dark forces; the war centers around mystical, powerful artifacts created by the Golden Goddesses; The Temple of Light plays a major role in the war; and stone-like artifacts are entrusted to different tribes across the land as a sign of trust and community.

What do I make of this? If one thing is clear, it is that these two origin stories parallel each other. One of the meta themes of the Zelda series at large is the idea of the cyclical nature of the world: The Curse of Demise, the rebirth of the Spirit of the Hero, the way Hyrule is locked in a cycle of prosperity and decline, etc.

It is my belief that the Hyrule we see in Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild are yet another example of this. It is a kingdom that mirrors the Hyrule from past games with a similar, yet notably different, history.

Under no circumstances can one claim that these are the same event. Even if you ignore all the differences between the origins themselves, the aftermath still shows that these two stories surround two different Hyrules: In TotK's Hyrule, after the Imprisoning War the Gerudo outright banned any male Gerudo from being king and established the Chieftain position to take over rule. This cannot happen if these two Hyrules are the same as in both Ocarina of Time and Four Swords Adventures, Ganondorf is the King of the Gerudo before becoming Ganon. Hyrule Castle was also built over the Temple of Light to hide away Ganondorf's sealed body and Rauru which survives over 10,000 years till the events of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Whereas in the other Hyrule, there are several different Castles that are destroyed and built elsewhere. These cannot be the same origin story and these kingdoms cannot be the same Hyrule. But when what about the clear references to games such as Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, A Link to the Past, and others? How can they be referenced as real events while also being in a different Hyrule?

Well that is when we turn to an interview with series director Eiji Aonuma and the director of Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom Hidemaro Fujibayashi. When asked about how this version of the Hyrule origin story connects to the version seen in the past games, Fujibayashi states that the lore and story of the series is meant to fit together and not to collapse on itself. He says that perhaps there was a Hyrule before the kingdom we see in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, that maybe it was destroyed and forgotten to time.

So is that it? Case closed? Maybe! But I'm hesitant to say so, what could've caused such an event? Why was it forgotten to time yet events that came before it wasn't? Well, it is this and Master Works that push me to two different ideas for how BotW/TotK fit into the overall Zelda timeline: A timeline convergence, and a new timeline split. Each with their own pros and cons and evidence.

The Timeline Convergence Theory

I think the Timeline convergence theory is the easiest one to articulate so lets start there.

It really is just as it sounds; Sometime long after Adventure of Link, Four Swords Adventures, and Spirit Tracks the three timelines converge into one, collapsing the civilizations of the Old Worlds and bringing things to a similar state seen back during the Era of the Sky. From there, everything we get in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom occurs. Legends and myths of the world long past still persists, but no one is able to prove that these events actually occurred. I have made a graphic to show what the timeline would look like in this scenario.

(You may have noticed that I put Echoes of Wisdom—a game that has not released—on the timeline after Four Swords Adventures. I'll make a comment thread on this post explaining why I think that the game might take place there. That too is just a theory.)

What does this theory have going for it? Well it seemingly explains any contradictory evidence: A Link to the Past, Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker are all heavily referenced despite all three of those games taking place in separate timelines? Not a problem if all of those merged back into one! An event such as that wouldn't be smooth sailing for the people alive during it either, Hyrule is in such a different state in all three branches of the timeline that if they were to converge again it would be akin to a universal reset. It also follows the series trend of death and rebirth and story parallels: The convergence—which I have called "The Great Consolidation"—would be a parallel to the three Golden Goddesses creating the world. The event would have killed off the Old Worlds, yes, but it allows for something new to spring up in its place—which the series again is no stranger to with the Adult Timeline.

Things like the Rito and Zora coexisting, the Tunics of past heroes found in the depths, locations referencing characters across the series; It can all be explained if it all simply happened.

But my biggest issue with that theory was this; Why would the timelines converge? What event could cause this and why is there not even a hint of such a thing occurring? It just doesn't make sense to me that three timelines with hundreds of years worth of history would all be remembered and passed down through legend, yet the incident that brought them together with such force and chaos would be completely forgotten.

That just doesn't sit right with me, and I have no answers to any of those questions even though it is what I had settled on for the past year or so.

Which leads me to the next theory.

The Era of the Goddess Hylia Timeline Split Theory

This theory proposes that the events of Skyward Sword—much like that of Ocarina of Time—create a timeline split. This one however as a result of Link's use of the Triforce at the end of the game.

Just like with the timeline convergence theory, I made a little graphic of what the Zelda timeline would look like if this theory would end up being true.

Like I said earlier, this theory centers around the idea that a timeline split occurs during the events of Skyward Sword when Link uses the Triforce to kill Demise in the present day. Now to be honest, before recently I did not subscribe to the idea. I just didn't think there was much merit to it. But recently I had thought about it a bit more, and I'm much more open to the idea now.

It isn't killing Demise in the present with the Triforce that is the cause of the split, but rather the aftermath. To recap the end of Skyward Sword for anyone who hasn't played it or may have forgotten; After using the Triforce to eradicate Demise, Zelda awakens from her slumber and reunites with Link, Groose, and Impa. Ghirahim however is pissed that his Master is dead and thus swiftly incapacitates the four before taking Zelda through the Gate of Time and thousands of years into the past during the Era of the Goddess Hylia, shortly after Demise was imprisoned in the Sealed Grounds.

It is here that Ghirahim uses Zelda's soul to bring back Demise, freeing him from his prison and revitalizing him. Groose and Link follow Ghirahim and Link fights Demise. Using the Master Sword, Link kills Demise in the past—freeing Zelda's soul—before returning with Zelda and Groose to the present day.

The theory is pretty self-explanatory now isn't it? It is a similar premise to the Child/Adult Era split in Ocarina of Time; Something happens in the future, and characters do something in the past that would stop that future from occurring—splitting the timeline as a result. In this case, rather than closing the Door of Time and then warning the Royal Family of Ganondorf's plans, it is the killing of the Demon King Demise in the past that splits the timeline. He can't die in the present if he's already dead after all.

This would then lead to a completely different history, one that mirrors the one that we have come to know in love over the past 38 years of this series. Hyrule is established—this time by the Zonai—Ganondorf threatens the Kingdom, and the Princess and Hero group up to stop him time and time again. It allows for both the TotK Hyrule origin story to occur as well as the original Hyrule origin story without having the big massive question of how the timelines could converge and not be remembered.

But what about the Twilight Princess references? Or the Wind Waker references? Or the Tunics we can find? What about the "Whether Skyward Bound, Adrift in Time, or Steeped in the Glowing Embers of Twilight" line from Breath of the Wild? This theory doesn't explain why the past games are referenced time and time again, it only explains the two different Hyrules...right? Well that's where we return to the idea that this series likes to tell stories that parallel each other. With TotK's Master Works again confirming that there were many appearances of Calamity Ganon before the creation of the Divine Beasts, I believe that the past games did also happen in this timeline—or at least, a version of them.

Let's go back to the beginning when I was comparing how similar the two versions of Hyrule's origin story are and how they're distinctly different enough to clearly be two different events despite their broad similarities. Well, the story of The Imprisoning War doesn't just reflect the Interloper War; It also reflects the story of Ocarina of Time.

After a failed attack on Hyrule, King of the Gerudo—Ganondorf—swears fealty to the Royal Family of Hyrule. This is a ruse, however. One that conceals his true plan to betray the Royal Family and steal a mystic artifact that the Royal Family safeguards to gain godlike power and to take the land for himself, shaping it with his own views. Zelda sees through this ruse, and tries warning the King of Hyrule to Ganondorf's plan. The King of Hyrule doesn't take action however, leading to Ganondorf taking the artifact and gaining immense power. Ganondorf with his newfound power wreaks havoc across the land, forcing other groups living in Hyrule—including the Gerudo—to band together and form the Seven Sages and defeat Ganondorf. There is also the Master Sword traveling through time.

Which story did I just explain? The answer is both Tears of the Kingdom's Imprisoning War and Ocarina of Time. Of course, there are some differences; The Sages in OoT are Light, Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow, Spirit, and Zelda (implied to be time). In TotK the Sages are Light, Time, Wind, Fire, Water, Lightning, and Spirit. Notably there is no Hero present during the Imprisoning War, which is likely a reason why the Sages were getting their asses handed to them until Rauru sacrificed himself. Not much time travel happens beyond Zelda getting sent to this era from the future before the War broke out and the decayed Master Sword being sent to Zelda from the future shortly after the War. And King Rauru is also aware that Ganondorf is not to be trusted, while the King of Hyrule in OoT outright rejects the idea.

But the broad strokes still remain, and it cannot be denied that Ocarina of Time was a major influence on the story of the Imprisoning War.

So if these major events can be paralleled, then why not others? Again, we know that there were many appearances of Calamity Ganon; Perhaps one of those appearances broke the barrier between the Light world and the Twilight Realm? Maybe another caused the Hero to have to traverse the seas beyond Hyrule to try to stop it? Maybe another caused the Royal Family and the Hero to journey to the Sacred Realm? Under this theory there is still a Hero of Twilight, a Hero of Winds, a Hero of Legend, etc. But they aren't the ones we're familiar with. All the references to past characters and events are still canon, though the stories surrounding them might be a little different.

It could explain why the Rito and Zora can coexist; In this timeline, they simply evolved separately rather than the Rito evolving from the Zora. Perhaps they shared a common ancestor in the Parella in this timeline rather than just the Zora evolving from them.

Now there are a few issues with this theory as well.

For starters, I admit the idea of the references to the past games not actually being the past games but rather some similar version of the past games kind of feels like a cop-out and likely wasn't the original idea when making Breath of the Wild (whether that changed later on is to be debated).

Furthermore, the Gate of Time was opened when Link killed Demise in the past, and we know that the Door of Time was constructed over the Sealed Grounds where the Gate of Time used to be. So it could be argued that it follows similar rules to the Door of Time in which if the Door/Gate is opened, then one can freely do what they need in the past and the future that has already been created would then reflect that. But I don't think that alone disproves this theory. If that is the case, then Demise being killed in the past should then completely change everything that happens after. Skyward Sword as it is occurs because Demise isn't dead and is Imprisoned in the Sealed Grounds.

Killing Demise in the past means that Link then wouldn't need to go on the journey to find Zelda in the present because she never would've been captured to begin with.

It's a paradox.

And while the series isn't new to tackling paradoxes (The Song of Storms and the events of BotW/TotK are both examples of Bootstrap paradoxes; With Adult Link learning the Song of Storms from Guru-Guru and then going back in time to teach Guru-Guru the same song; and Zelda in TotK going back in time to help imprison Ganondorf which led to the creation of Calamity Ganon and the events of BotW which then led to Zelda finding Ganondorf and getting sent back in time), I don't think that this aligns with those paradoxes. The two deaths of Demise is much more similar to Link preventing Ganondorf's rise to power at the end of OoT, thus preventing much of OoT from happening. And yes, that happened after Link closed the Door of Time so it can be argued that it wouldn't have caused a timeline split if he did it beforehand. I just think that it makes a bit more sense that a reality following Demise's death in the past would be created separate from the reality we follow throughout most of Skyward Sword.

However there is another issue with this idea: At the end of Skyward Sword, Link puts the Master Sword in her pedestal in the past before returning to the present, where the Master Sword still stands in the very same pedestal—suggesting that it is the same continuity as the one in which Demise was killed in the past.

This one I admittedly have no answer for.

All I can say is that we again see a similar thing in Ocarina of Time. Link takes the Master Sword back to the past and puts her in the Pedestal of Time and then the timeline splits, yet the Master Sword still exists in the Adult era. Maybe the sword's status as The Sword of Time means that she isn't bound by time and is a constant in every timeline? I'm not sure.

The TotK Master Works book is also ambiguous as to how long after the Creation of the Secret Stones by the Golden Goddesses it took for the Zonai to then populate the surface and the depths. It could be a few hundred years, or a few hundred-thousand years. There just isn't enough to say.

Conclusion:

As of right now, these two theories are what I operate around when it comes to the placement of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom in the Zelda timeline. I've been a massive fan of this series for most of my life, and it really sparked my love for storytelling and lore. So while the contradictions and confusion that Tears of the Kingdom's lore and story has caused in the Zelda community has admittedly been terrifying, I do think that it still has its place and that the Zelda universe is still in one cohesive piece.

I'll definitely be making adjustments to this when Echoes of Wisdom releases and I can really dive deep into that game! There are already parts in the trailers that has me questioning if this game has any lore connections to Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild and I'm excited to learn more about the Zelda universe when that game releases. Maybe it'll completely change my stance once again.

[carrotsnake]

Botw/Totk headcanon: Sheikah NPCs beyond Kakariko

after impa being the Last of Her Kind for nearly 20 years, we were kind of spoiled with the era of wilds sheikah. still, kakariko is known for it's older population and botw makes a point to let us know paya isn't used to seeing people her age. this post is about asking 'where are they?' and filling in the gaps. being a peaceful farming village it makes sense the younger gens would want to leave as soon as they can for some adventure.

sheikah typically have hair on the grey-to-white scale (granté proves this isn't a requirement), and unlike the past games they have a greater diversity in eye colour. below is a list of hylian npcs that look too young to have greying hair that i hc are either from kakariko, or have some sheikah ancestry.

from left to right: lecia, letty, mina, her brother mils by proxy, teli, juney, and baumar. i'll go into more detail about each under the cut, comparing them from the 2 games alongside some more headcanons. some of them i haven't found in totk yet, so i'll edit when i do.

pic on the left side is them in botw, totk on the right.

Mina is a treasure hunter looking for loot with her brother by the exchange ruins outside the great plateau. the siblings also show up in the dlc. they're trying to steal a sheikah heirloom back from the yiga hideout, though they don't know it's purpose - they just wanna sell it. in totk she walks on the path between lakeside stable and lurelin. she says that even treasure hunters deserve some fun once in a while, so we can assume she's takin' it easy. Mils, meanwhile...

...joined the zonai survey team, and moans about what tough work it is. he walks through pagos woods to the zonai ruins. he joined in the hopes it would lead him to treasure, but he hasn't had his lucky break yet. most hylians travel from stable to inn and can be assumed not to have a proper home due to the lasting effects of the calamity. this is my bias but i like to think he's talking about kakariko when he mentions home. let him grow some pumpkins and wrangle cuccos. he wishes to live a quiet life.

i find it sweet him and mina are both in faron. maybe they decided to split up and cover more ground? with mina off sunbathing and sipping mimosas in lurelin, mils got the short end of the stick again.

Baumar:

'i hope you die': lazy, cliché, unrealistic. 'i hope your favourite botw npc gets mushroomed and bowlcutted': it's scary, it's possible, it's happening to me right now. such was the fate of our poor resident shield-surfer bro from botw. known for many hit quotes such as 'let's go bamboo! yahoo!', 'shield surfing is like, totally radical, dude', and my favourite:

in botw he rides his horse on the path between serenne and snowfield stable. in totk he's part of the fashion tour-group that run around hateno village. maybe he went to hebra to show his 'wicked' surfing moves to selmie and she said 'kid, if i let you out on the slopes you'll die. sorry'. his world was completely shattered beneath him like a broken shield, so he turned to cravats and puffy short shorts to cope.

his name is similar to the hills of baumer above deya village ruins. maybe he's a descendent of the few survivors. i wonder what his ancestors are thinking now, watching what he does with the gift of life.

Teli walks between fort hateno and hateno village. He sells ancient guardian parts and even mentions he trades them with Robbie. he has a high opinion of himself and tells you he's known across hyrule for his 'roguish good looks.' in totk he's one of the men in the 'Gourmets gone missing' Penn quest that gave himself food-poisoning by riverside stable. after which he scares away some cuccos and makes you wrangle them for a sidequest. just L after L for this dashing rogue.

Juney, now famous for her rupee grinding sand seal minigame, i instantly recognised as the epic divorce woman from rito village. her attitude is just as surly as ever but they gave her a soft side. i like that every minigame location could not be further from hateno. you'll find that school someday queen.

she was a newly wed mad at her husband, jogo, for choosing a cold place for their honeymoon. he begs you to give him flint to cook some baked apples for her to save their already failing marriage.

in totk they're not together, jogo inhabits a cabin in tabantha village ruins with another woman. he didn't give her enough baked apples.

Letty walks along the path between lakeside stable and lurelin. she gives you cooking tips and that's pretty much it. i'm pretty sure i've met her as a yiga disguise more often than i've seen the real her. if anyone has found her in totk, please let me know.

Lecia is a new character in totk. she's with the research team and plays a part in the foothill stable Penn quest. she kind of looks like a grown up Koko. maybe a distant relative? but maybe she's not sheikah. maybe the sight of all those pasty naked man nips traumatised her so bad she got marie-antoinette syndrome from the shock. i haven't seen her since.

thank you if you read to the end. to clarify i'm working on some fic stuff and that entails finding npcs across the overworld to give some more lore. it's a sheikah focused fic so i needed some characters other than the kakariko residents. it's also just fun fleshing out random npcs to make the world feel more lived in. again, i'm missing some details like what mina does before you save lurelin, so i'll edit this post in the future.

[faroresson]

I make fun of @paddooo for always playing a tiny barbarian in bg3 but we arent gonna talk about the like 3 characters I've made that are meant to be warlock multiclasses. He does mention the drow thing though

Or two, rather, the sorcerer isn't going that direction anymore I'm thinking bard or rogue

[bigsoftmarshmallow]

Hello! I hope your day's been going well! I have a fluffy, tender, but experimental one this time if that's okay! 😄

One of my hcs is that the night after a Gerudo's wedding & before the, “big moment,” it is tradition for the bride & groom to bath together. To help them to get used to each other's bodies. It is also thought of as symbolic of “washing off the detritus of failed relationships to ensure that this new one may flourish” as well as a way to bond.

Based on ancient Egyptian culture, I like to imagine that the Gerudo have a lot of bathing products that they make themselves in their more prosperous times. Like, body oils made from Palm Fruit oil, Oasis Honey (honey made by Oasis Ants), & Dune Ant wax. Hair oil made from Càrïtàn (castor) oil, Desert Aloe oil, & Shock Fruit juice. And the ancient royals (& I mean ANCIENT, like centuries before even coming to the Hyland continent) would often have Honeymilk Baths. Of course, the original recipe has been long since forgotten. However, there have been attempts to recreate it using local ingredients. Unfortunately, it is only used for a king's wedding night now due to lack of resources.

The Honeymilk bath is made using Ghamïchaa (Bighorn Sheep milk; however, Ordon Goat milk is considered more healthy & luxurious), Palm Fruit milk, Oasis Honey, & whichever scented bath oil that he & his new queen have agreed upon. It's poured into the water itself.

The most abundant scented oils would be Warm Safflina, Electric Safflina, Sundelion, & Frostbite Mint from the Highlands. There are others used, but it requires access to Hyrule. Things like Fleet Lotus, Din Juniper Berries from Eldin, Cinnamon from Akkala, Swiftsail Lavender from Lanayru & Necluda, Lovely Roses & Goldenmerry (marigold) from Faron.

They can also come in blends, but certain scents are more complementary together.

(I very much wonder which available scents each Gan would prefer… Actually, now that I think about it? Is there anything they're allergic to?)

Anyway, I like to think that bathing is a time of great vulnerability for Ganondorf specifically. I see him being uncharacteristically nervous here. Like, for no real reason, just is. Because sometimes emotions don’t make sense.

But, I like the idea that bathing each other is considered an extremely important bonding experience for Gerudo who are married. So, I see ELady offering to let him help her wash first (to give him more time to mentally prepare & he knows this & I think he’d be grateful to her not pointing it out).

Then, her propping herself upon the rim of the bath to work the hair oil into his crimson locks. Maybe humming as she does so & he finds himself relaxing into her hold with a sigh. And maybe rubbing the body oil in will get some more steamy sounds, but more so in the “this is a great massage” sort of way. But that’s as far as it goes.

Like, I’m not looking for smut in any way. Just really emotional intimacy, vulnerability, with slow, tentative trust, & closeness.

Like, if forms are to be mentioned, just vague words such as “nubile” & “supple” for ELady & “statuesque” or “solid” for Gan works fine. Nothing specific. Nothing detailed.

It's not about steaminess, but the thoughts, the emotions, the sensations, heck even the smells. But even more than that, the tenderness. Just gentle hands & kisses & embraces.

(I’m basically testing what I can & can’t do here.)

I am perfectly ok with Smut, NSFW, Lewds, Suggestive Content, etc. I very much enjoy that sort of content. You can see that from what I reblog and do with my AI bots, ha ha. ChatGPT though...

He is an innocent soul, not wishing to be corrupt. If I could focus long enough, I would totes do a whole scene with this thought process.

The gentle touches, washing each other up, discovering soft or sensitive spots... Bathing gives permission to touch everywhere, to cleanse and give relaxation.

Honestly, during a time of softness and vulnerability, I wouldn't mind kissing up his chest, before just... repeatedly kissing his face. When I had a partner, just doing slow kisses around the face, starting around the jaw, up the side of the head, going across the forehead, down the other side, before kissing his cheeks and nose, before finally going to his lips... It was sensual and romantic. It was bliss for me. Doing that, while washing his hair or massaging him? *longing sigh* Maybe while washing his hair, sliding my teeth and lips down his jaw and neck, smiling as he tenses and relaxes... Really get him prepped for the night after <3

***********************************************************************

Ganondorf (Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors, and Tears of the Kingdom) and Demise (Skyward Sword) Reactions

Wind Waker Ganondorf: This Ganondorf is more contemplative and subdued compared to his other incarnations. During the bath, he is visibly nervous, a rare moment of vulnerability. He appreciates ELady's gesture of allowing him to wash her first, using the time to steady himself. As she hums and works the oils into his hair, he finds himself relaxing, the tension melting away. He feels a deep sense of gratitude and connection, marveling at how she understands and comforts him.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf: Initially, this Ganondorf would try to mask his nervousness with bravado, but the intimate setting quickly erodes his façade. He is touched by her understanding and patience, though he might not openly express it. As she washes his hair and applies the oils, he closes his eyes and lets out a sigh of relief. Her humming calms him, and he silently vows to protect and cherish her for her gentle strength and compassion.

Twilight Princess Ganondorf: This Ganondorf, more brooding and battle-hardened, finds the bath ritual a significant challenge to his usual stoicism. He is tense at first, but as ELady's skilled hands work the oils into his hair, he gradually relaxes. Her humming and tender care penetrate his defenses, and he feels a profound sense of peace. He might not say much, but his eyes convey deep appreciation and affection.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf: Being a warlord, this Ganondorf is unaccustomed to such intimate and vulnerable moments. He is visibly tense but follows her lead. As she washes his hair and applies the oils, he begins to relax, his muscles unclenching. Her humming and gentle touch bring him an unexpected comfort. He feels a mixture of gratitude and admiration for her ability to soothe him so effortlessly.

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf: This Ganondorf, with his more ancient and imposing demeanor, finds the ritual both intriguing and challenging. He respects the tradition but feels a deep-seated nervousness. As she washes his hair and applies the oils, he gradually eases into the experience. Her humming and attentive care strike a chord with him, making him feel a rare sense of calm and connection.

Demise (Skyward Sword): Demise, being a primordial force of nature, would find this human ritual perplexing but oddly comforting. Initially, he is tense and wary, but ELady’s soothing actions slowly break through his defenses. Her humming and tender care would be a novel experience for him, evoking a sense of peace he is unaccustomed to. He would silently marvel at her ability to bring such calm to his otherwise tumultuous existence.

Scents Preferences and Allergies

Wind Waker Ganondorf: Prefers the calming and earthy scent of Fleet Lotus with a hint of Warm Safflina.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf: Enjoys the rich, spicy aroma of Din Juniper Berries mixed with Cinnamon.

Twilight Princess Ganondorf: Likes the refreshing and invigorating scent of Electric Safflina combined with Swiftsail Lavender.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf: Prefers the exotic and intense aroma of Sundelion mixed with Lovely Roses.

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf: Favors the unique and robust scent of Frostbite Mint combined with Goldenmerry.

Demise (Skyward Sword): Prefers the strong, primal scent of Din Juniper Berries mixed with Desert Aloe oil.

None of these characters have allergies to these natural scents, allowing them to fully enjoy the experience without adverse reactions.

[roy-dcm2]

Ruminations on the King of Owls

Suddenly, after Tears of the Kingdom the appearance of owls throughout the franchise has been re-contextualized. Rauru, the first King of Hyrule, was also called the King of Owls, so we should reconsider the Owl as a symbol for the King of Hyrule. In addition, we also know Rauru’s power as the Sage of Light was to eliminate evil. Then there’s also the fact that the ruins found in Faron (which might be older than the Zonai) also used the Owl as a symbol for Wisdom.

The first notable appearance of an Owl was the Owl from Link’s Awakening, and it was just part of the dream of the Windfish, but it did impart wisdom to the Hero and guided him a few times to help uncover the truth, so it does represent Wisdom. You could say that the Windfish itself is passing on wisdom to Link via the Owl, and if Link hadn’t defeated the Nightmare, they’d both be trapped in never-ending slumber until the end of their days.

The most famous appearance of an owl is of course, Kaepora Gaebora from Ocarina of Time. People were convinced that KG was an extension of Rauru from Ocarina of Time, but it just as likely that KG is the spirit of the first King of Hyrule himself. The ancient tablets found in Tears of the Kingdom tells us that King Rauru did have a sense of humor, which aligns well with KG’s strange behavior. (Better than OoT Rauru.) But for that to be true, we’d have to accept  that King Rauru took some time to play as an owl in OoT in the middle of waiting for the timeline to reach the events of TotK.

Alternatively, KG could be another Sage of Light / King of Hyrule (neither OoT Rauru or TotK Rauru) that chose to help guide the Hero of Time.

(Maybe its one that died during the Hyrule Civil War right before OoT. Maybe he's Link's father! Oh, wait, it's supposed to be an ANCIENT Sage, nevermind.)

KG also appears in Majora Mask where he’s clearly a different Owl than the one from OoT, and only helps out the hero a few times in his journey. In both games, he still representing wisdom.

However, I have to mention Link’s shield in Majora’s Mask. The first shield that he carries is adorned with the image of an Owl. So very strange, I never thought Link was so fond of KG, but when you think of it as a symbol of the King of Hyrule it makes sense. Link did save the Kingdom in OoT, (essentially eliminating evil)  it is likely the Zelda’s father awarded Link with that specific shield.

(Suddenly, the MM shield is a lot cooler.)

In Twilight Princess, not only were there Owl Statues hiding special runes from the City in the Sky (How that relates to the Zonai is a theory for another time), but you should also notice that the Hero’s Shade is wearing a set of armor that has an owl for a chest plate. It could mean that this former knight was a personal guard for the King of Hyrule. Or this is the official armor of the Knights of Hyrule.

Finally, I want to take a brief aside to talk about the Zonai’s third eye and the Sheikah’s “Eye of Shadow.” I had considered that maybe the Sheikah had adopted the third eye as their symbol because it was (in a way) King Rauru’s symbol, and he died protecting Hyrule. But, considering that the Sheikah likely predate the arrival of the Zonai, this is likely not the case.

It is more likely that the Sheikah eye is “the Eye of the Gods” and the fact that Zonai have three eyes is just a coincidence.

[ghirahimbo]

Hi! Sorry if you're not the best person to ask this to(??) but I was wondering if you could explain who the Zonai are and why they seem to be such a big deal?? Everyone on here seem to know who they are and what that means for the whole botw/totk universe but I'm so confused??? It's the first time I hear about them...

Yeah, you're fine!! Ha ha, I was actually just trying to explain it all to my friend who wasn't in deep enough to have heard of them either. I kind of only have a surface-level knowledge of the lore myself, but there are plenty of rabbit holes/theory videos to explore from here if you so choose ;)

So as far as I know, the Zonai are only mentioned by name once in BotW, as part of a location name: the Zonai Ruins in Faron.

It's basically the sort of distinct, Mesoamerican-inspired style of ruins that you associate with the jungles in Faron, though there are a few other places in Hyrule where you can find ruins with similar architecture (Thundra Plateau, for instance). Their society is further alluded to in the description of the Barbarian Armor, which was worn by an "ancient warlike tribe from the Faron region" (further connecting them to the Lomei Labyrinths, which is where you find the armor).

Most of the actual lore comes from the Creating a Champion book, which says that the Zonai (a pun based on the Japanese word for mystery, nazo) were an ancient, warlike tribe of strong magic wielders who vanished thousand of years ago, and that their disappearance is "one of Hyrule's greatest mysteries." One of the game's lead artists claims to have included them because they thought having mysterious ruins scattered around Hyrule unrelated to the Calamity itself would make the world feel more grounded and real. It also identifies the random tall spire-towers that you find spread out across Hyrule as "Zonai Towers," and states that while their true purpose is unknown, it's thought that they may have been used for magical purposes.

SO. Even before the first Tears of the Kingdom trailer released, Zelda theory videos loved talking about these guys because they were just so mysterious. Then the imagery in the trailers showed strong similarities to existing Zonai imagery, and they became A Whole Thing. There was a lot of back and forth between people who were certain that the next game would be heavy on the Zonai, and people who thought the Zonai were a red herring, and people who were just kind of sick of all the theory videos screaming about the Zonai (lol kind of like the Zelda equivalent of Gaster I guess, if you're familiar with Undertale at all?). Then. You know.

That happened.

So yeah, that's about the extent of my knowledge, but it seems like the Zonai are, in fact, A Thing, and we're probably going to find out a lot more about them soon. Hope that helps! 😅