#can’t forget Sheerow

[sapphicseasapphire]

I realized that I’ve never drawn Cryptid Legend (“Hylian” form) in color.

… oops.

Well here you go!! These two have my whole heart. I’ve been thinking a lot about them recently. The beloved.

[the-au-collector]

Random Things I forgot to add in my braindump for my Radio AU:

Twilight is Time and Malon’s nephew. I think I’m going to make his relation through Uli, so that makes Uli and Malon sisters in this AU

Legend used to go to college in Mabe City, but moved away after his Koholint Trauma happened. He still has friends there, like Ralph, Din, and Nayru, but he rarely visits

Sun races cars. Not professionally or for sport, no. She’ll just drive at 80mph down some old country road for the hell of it. Sky and Groose often join her

Sky, Sun, and Groose all came from Sky City. That said, they somehow never met until college. They find this very funny and will call each other “strangers”

Legend and Fable’s biological father is Raven, but he was very inconsistent with his job and eventually left them with Alfon, his adopted brother (and I am realizing I need a family tree for this AU😵‍💫).

Time is an orphan. He was never adopted growing up, but he was closest to the Kokiri family. They had a daughter named Saria who he still calls his older sister. She’s an ecologist now

Time secretly spoils Wolfie

Twilight will take Wolfie for “walks” (aka, he will sneak Wolfie into his and Wild’s house despite there being a strict no dogs policy. Revali has tried getting them in trouble before but hasn’t succeeded yet)

Wolfie is the favorite whenever Wild hosts a party

Time has somehow become emotionally attached to these radio kids. He was not supposed to get emotionally attached

Sky and Sun hope to get married sometime after graduation, preferably sooner than later

First is everyone’s favorite when he’s around. That said, he’s still the oldest and most responsible when having fun.

Crimson swears

Ravio has tried reaching Sheerow to talk

Legend doesn’t drive (anymore)

Warriors has the gaudiest car, according to Legend. Legend’s right

Styla and Legend are like BFFs. They also met when Legend did Fashion Design. Styla often makes costumes for the school plays as well

Shadow hung out with a bad crowd in high school. He’s doing better now.

Where are the colors you ask? Four’s genderfluid so he uses them to indicate his gender. Vio = she/her. Green = he/him. Red = they/them. Blue= any, they don’t care.

Vaati is Shadow’s biological father, who married Four’s mom when Shadow and Four were 12. Four’s mom died when they were 14, then Vaati went into prison when they were 15 (they really are unrelated incidents). They began living with Grandpa Smith after that.

Yuga is Ravio and Hilda’s dad. He’s really strict and not a good person. He wants them both to go into business. Ravio is playing his hand until he can be totally independent. Hilda is a high school senior and wants to major in fine art. Yuga hates this. He especially hates that Ravio is completely supportive of Hilda… and also that Ravio never comes around anymore.

Hilda’s started being invited to Legend’s uncle’s house for holidays. She can’t come to all of them because of Yuga but she does come to Thanksgiving now

Alfon refuses to let anyone be alone over the holidays. He will force Legend and Ravio to bring their friends over if they have no one in the area or anywhere to go

Flora and Fauna grew up under a lot of pressure from their dad. Fauna feels it more since she’s older, but Flora definitely feels it too. They’re both perfectionists

Impa and Purah are Paya’s cousins in this AU. Paya’s very shy so they try to get her to go out more. Paya has a huge crush on Wild and is teased endlessly for it

Flora has this huge crush on this one guy in her anthropology class. His name is Tauro

Age and Wild didn’t get along for a long time after the house fire. Wild got his burns and amnesia from protecting Age but obviously doesn’t remember this. As a kid, Age thought Wild was purposefully forgetting everything. Wild honestly feels horrible for forgetting and is trying to get his memory back, but he hasn’t had much luck

Age and Wild are both named Link. It’s a family thing. They go by their middle names. Wilder is Wild’s official middle name. Age’s official middle name is August.

On the other hand, both Flora and Fauna’s middle names are Zelda. Flora’s full name is Florence Zelda Hyrule. Fauna’s name is just Fauna.

^ this is the same for Dawn and Aurora too

Hyrule, Dawn, and Aurora come from a very small town named Mido. Hyrule would play “Knights of Hyrule” with Dawn in the farm fields all around them. It’s where he gets his nickname from

Hyrule’s friends in high school were Bot, Error, and Bagu

[green-hoshi]

Ravioli Ship Week Day Two - Sickfic/ Tender Care

“I won’t be home for lunch, don’t wait up.”

Link’s voice comes like a croak, and that was putting it lightly. Ravio rushes from the kitchen to block the way to the door. Link blinks at him slowly, unable to even muster a reaction. 

“Not like that you aren’t!”

Link thinks hard. Did he forget something? He pats at his hips where his sword is safely strapped on his belt. his bag is also dangling from his shoulder. Then, realization dawns on him.

“Sorry Bunny, I will be as quick as I can. I miss you already.”

And Link takes a step forward to kiss him. The merchant is flushed but stops him.

“No! Stupid hero! Look at you, you’re sick! You are not going anywhere!”

“It’s okay, I have my sword.”

Ravio squints at him.

“You don’t make any sense. The sword won’t help you when you collapse from exhaustion.”

“I mean, I could probably use the sword as a cane…”

Ravio sighs.

“...That’s not the point.”

Ravio leads him to their bed and tucks him in after helping him out of his boots. 

“But, what about the monsters in Lorule?” Link whines.

“Hilda and Zelda both have an army to do their bidding, I will make sure Sheerow informs them.”

After Yuga was defeated, Zelda and Hilda, being two powerful sorceresses, succeeded to create a sustainable portal between both of their worlds. It is nice to see the two kingdoms prosper from their new economic situation. Ravio is happy that he is not torn between his hometown and the life he shares with Link. But now Link also has two kingdoms to protect instead of one, and self-care is not really Link’s strong suit.  

“I want to protect your kingdom, Rav’. You can’t stop me from going.”

Ravio raises an eyebrow at him. 

“I literally just did, silly. I’m also locking the front door and keeping the only key.”

“Oh, for Nayru’s love, you are so smart.”

Link sounds so genuine that Ravio’s smirk disappears for a bashful and hard to contain smile.

“Alright, go to sleep already, the fever has you talking nonsense.”

“No, but it’s true. You’re so smart and pretty. I don’t tell you that enough. You’re amazing Bunny. You are the best—” 

He coughs loudly, Ravio winces at the nasty sound but strokes his boyfriend’s hair. Link leans into the touch.

“Aren’t you the sweetest? Let me take care of you for once, love.”

He leans to plant a kiss in his hair. Link feels himself melting and he is pretty sure it is not because of the fever.

[legendofzoodles]

Could you do a story about the chain meeting Ravio and the other Lorule heroes?

There are other Lorule heroes? If you mean the Lorulean counterparts of each member of the chain then that's 18 whole characters in one scene- I could barely handle 9! I don't think a story like that could be just a one shot.

To be honest I don't have that many ideas right now, but I could do a quick story. Kind of, it’s just a fun conversation between Twilight and Ravio. From Twi’s pov.

~~~

Separated by Shadows

The Twilight Realm was a place like no other. A quiet, bizarre and beautiful world bathed in the gentle light of a perpetual sunset sky. Strange floating islands that defied logic, particles the purest black that float from oblivion only to disappear from the eye and clouds of darkness that hid parts of the dim sky. 

I can still see it whenever I close my eyes. I’m reminded of its existence every fleeting sunset. Occasionally, the pain of never being able to return there and see her keeps me up. Tonight is unfortunately one of those nights. 

Instead of resigning to a restless night tossing and turning I decide to go downstairs and make myself busy doing something. Which ends up with me quietly scouring through Legend’s excessively extensive item collection by candlelight. I sort through various stashes of hats, tunics, magic tools and a large amount of shovels. 

“He’s got way too many doesn’t he?” comes a familiar voice behind me. I turn around to see Ravio smiling just behind me, green eyes barely peeking out from under his oversized hood. “Can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve tried to get him to sell the stuff he doesn’t use. But, he never listens to me.”

He huffs and looks at me expectantly, but I don’t give much of a response other than vaguely shrugging. I’ve never really known how to talk to people like that. It’s not just the fact that I’ve only known him for half a day that’s the problem, it’s the little glint in his eyes and the way his words dance about the air when he speaks. A confidence that doesn’t fit with his unassuming if unusual appearance. 

I quickly got that feeling from watching him banter with Legend. His quips and jabs, while all in good spirit, held a mischievousness that couldn’t be missed. Reminds me of someone who always had a smart comments for everything...

“Hey, you haven’t fallen asleep have you?” he asks me.

Rubbing my eyes I shake my head and stand up. “Couldn’t even if I wanted to. Why are you still up?”

“No special reason friend of Mr Hero,” he says, “Hm, I feel bad for calling you that, you have a name don’t you?”

“I said to call me rancher.”

He tilts his head at me, hood covering one of his eyes. “You did? When?”

I blink at him. “A few hours ago...remember?”

His face stays blank for a moment before lighting up in realisation. “Oh that’s right. I didn’t forget you, it’s just that we didn’t talk much back then. Since both of us are up let’s chat now for a bit. Quietly though- mind you- because Sheerow is sleeping.”

“Who...?”

Ravio gives a half smile and lifts his large hood back a little to reveal a white bird with pale blue wings peeking out from his purple hair. It’s nestled comfortably within the folds of his clothes, sleeping soundly. 

“I didn’t notice him before,” I say, feeling myself smile as I gaze at the tiny creature. “Has he been there this whole time?”

“No he’s been flying around,” he says, pulling his hood back and walking past me to rummage around the Veteran’s jewellery collection. “You just weren’t paying attention.”

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“Are you the type to do that then?” he asks, opening a box of gold bracelets. “Like, get lost in your own head and tune out the world around you?”

“What are you doing?” 

He turns to look at me. “I’m just making conversation. If you don’t want to talk to me then you’re free to go back upstairs.”

“No, I mean what are you doing with Vet’s stuff?”

“Ah I’m just looking around, I’ve contributed to this stash of his you know?” he says, inspecting a large crystal bangle. “If you’re gonna stick around and talk to me can you answer my question?”

“Sure,” I say, overturning an empty box to sit on. “I tend to get distracted I guess, but no more than others. Yourself?”

“I wouldn’t say I am.”

“That’s not entirely true,” I counter. “You forgot my name.”

“To be fair, you gave me your title in the group. Not your name,” he says. “I remember that you’re all called Link by the way.”

There’s a playful tone in his voice that keeps me smiling, so nonchelount yet direct. It’s refreshing change of pace from the heroes. “Really? Well then, I’d rather you called me by my name instead of ‘Mr Hero’s friend’.”

“Why?” He seems surprised. “Are you not friends?”

“I never said that,” I say, watching him now compare the different bracelets. “What are you to him?”

There’s a pause before he says, “His ally.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Why’d you say it like that?”

“There’s a bit more to it.”

“I can buy that. You two look near identical,” I observe, leaning back against a stack of buckets. “Can’t believe I didn’t see that at first- then again you were wearing a hood. Let me guess, cousins? Long lost siblings?”

“We’re not related- here hold these,” he says and quickly dumps a small pile of bracelets into my hands. “This too, I want to try something on.” 

He reaches into his hood and pulls out his pet. I have to unload the jewellery onto my undershirt in order to hold the little bird, which is still fast asleep. After making sure it’s comfortable in my hands I look up to see Ravio putting on a necklace and examining it in a pocket mirror (one I’m pretty sure I saw lying around here early today). 

“Hm this could work...” he mutters before turning back to me, “Sorry what were we talking about?”

“You were explaining why you two look the same,” I say patiently, stroking the bird. 

“Right,” he snaps the mirror shut and turns to me, “What if I told you were the same person?”

“Same person?” I echo, slightly confused. Did he mean like a doppelganger? A clone?

“Well I hope you’d call me out for lying because that’s not exactly true,” he says, chuckling at my small frown. “But anyway, I’m like an alternate version of him from a parallel world. Lorule to be specific.”

My eyes grow wide upon hearing this. The Vet hadn’t mentioned anything about travelling to other worlds. Sure, considering what he must have gone through to collect all this stuff it makes sense and it’s not like any of us have readily shared anything about their adventures, outside of one off monster encounters. 

He watches my reaction with amusement. “I was a little surprised myself when I figured it out. We’re so different. Don’t know why you’re surprised though, you’ve been to another world yourself right?”

I stop short and stare at him, hands frozen. “What makes you say that...?”

“Two things, one: that reaction,” he says, smiling to himself. “And two: that little magical trinket I saw hanging around your neck when you and the small one threatened to stab me. It’s not on you now, but you know what I mean.”

“Sorry about that,” I say sheepishly, realising I hadn’t actually apologised. “But how did you know that had magic from another world?”

“I have an eye for that sort of stuff. One of the only things I’m good at,” he says, waving away my apology and crouching on the ground opposite me, hood raised over once again. “So where’s it from? I’m guessing it’s not your era’s version of Lorule.”

With a huff, I let my thumb gently caress the bird. “It might well be seeing as how you were able to sense it’s magic. It’s a fusion of two different sources- Ganon’s powers and magic from the Twilight Realm. Heard of that place?”

His eyes seem to travel around the room in search of an answer. Enough time passes for me to dare hope before he says what I suspected, “Can’t say I have. What’s it like there?”

“It’s...not for everyone,” I say, shifting my gaze between the dimmed orange candles and the dark spots in the room. Memories are returning from my brief time there, and the feelings that come with them, with her. Feelings that keep me up sometimes. “But, in my opinion, it holds a serene beauty. Like the sunsets in this world.” 

“Tad brief, but I’ll try to imagine the rest.” He fiddles with the edge of his hood. “So it’s a world in partial light? In that case it must have it’s own Triforce, or maybe it’s under the protection of the one in your world, keeping the balance.”

“If the tribe’s ancestors had their way then they would,” I say, looking at Sheerow sleeping in my cupped hands. It’s strange that I’m opening up to a stranger about this, but at the same time it feels good to talk about it to someone other than Princess Zelda. “But no they don’t have a Triforce. Don’t need one. Their source of light comes from these orbs called Sols.”

This makes him sit up straighter. “That’s interesting, maybe they’re not so different after all. Who rules it?”

I suck in my breath. “Princess Midna.”

Ravio mouths the name before asking, “Midna huh? She one of those Twilight people? What’s she look like?”

“They’re called the Twili,” I say. There’s a feeling welling up in my throat, and I pause for a moment for it to settle, because I don’t know whether it’s gonna make me cry or laugh. And I’m not gonna to roll that dice in front of a stranger, even if he’s fun to talk to. “She used to look like a funny little impish creature with weird hair, uh but then she turned into a tall blue woman with weird hair, and a hood instead of a hat.”

I hear a snicker and look up to see Ravio laughing with a sleeve covering his mouth. He catches my expression and waves his hands in defence saying, “Wait it’s just, that’s an unusual way to describe the person you love.” 

He’s perceptive, I shouldn’t be surprised that he picked that up. I don’t know. Maybe that’s not it. Maybe it’s something else that causes my face to flush, body tense up and a cough to involuntarily escape- luckily not loud enough to wake up my feathered friend. “That’s...just my way of saying she’s pretty.”

“No worries, I got that too,” he says, earning a breathy chuckle from me. “Can I assume something surrounding that is what’s kept you up?”

“You got me,” is all I can say. I’d throw up my hands up in defeat if they weren’t occupied. 

“Hey come on don’t sound all downcast like that,” he says. “You’ll be able to see her after this adventure of yours right?”

His tone is as friendly as ever, even though his words are like daggers. “No, she left my world, and she won’t come back.”

“Can’t you travel there and see her?”

Enough, please. “No. To make things worse she shattered the only connection between our worlds. Literally.”

“She dumped you and then broke all contact?” Ravio says with a hushed cry. “Was this because you tried to call her pretty in ‘your way’?” 

“Ha, she didn’t need me to tell her,” I say, chuckling again before sighing. “But no she didn’t dump me- at least I don’t think she did- we were never dating. Didn’t even get the chance to tell her how I feel.”

“Oh.” he says, half his face is buried in his blue striped scarf. “Then why does it upset you?”

Surprised and somewhat insulted by that remark I just glare at him in silence, shaking my head. To which he catches on and follows it up with, “Sorry Mr Rancher I do get why. Trust me buddy, I know the feeling. 

Hilda is the name of the one I love- Princess Hilda I mean- and for a while I was away from her too. I feel like that’s worse though in a way, because I went behind her back and abandoned her. She actually did hate me back then, thought I’d turned against her, said so herself...” 

He laughed as he said this, despite the persisting crease in his forehead. “Uh... man I’ve forgotten where I was going with that. I had something good too!”

“That’s alright,” I say, taking comfort in the gesture.

“Do you know why she did it?” he asks, “Assuming it wasn’t to spite you.”

I sigh, but take a moment to think about the question. “Short answer: no. Long answer: I have, an idea.”

“Go on.”

“I remember us only having a brief conversation about it but, I got the sense that she believed it would be best if our worlds were separated,” I say, closing my eyes. “She feared the power of her ancestors, and wanted to keep their influence far away from the world of light.”

“If it’s to protect both her people and yours then that’s understandable,” he says thoughtfully. “But do you and Princess Zelda also think that.”

“I don’t. And neither does she.”

“Ok well, do something about it. Seems pretty cut and dry to me Mr Rancher,” he says and I hear him get up. “You don’t like what she did, so go back there and give her a piece of your mind. Doesn’t matter if you don’t know how, you’ll find a way- you’re a hero after all! If a coward like me can get things to work how I want them, then literally nothing is stopping you. Use this adventure as a chance to get started.”

I feel a light tapping on my forehead and slowly open my eyes. “That’s a nice way of looking at it.”

“It’s the best way of looking at it. Even the fact that you couldn’t tell her how you feel shouldn’t be something to mope over- think of it as something to look forward to when you see her again.” He grins at me before pointing at my hands. “Can I have him back now? I’ve stayed up long enough tonight.”

“Yeah, course,” I say and carefully hand him back Sheerow. He places the creature back in the folds of his hood, just behind his ear and slowly makes his way out. “Have you considered joining us?” 

Ravio stops just before the door and looks back. “Not really, I doubt I’ll be any use.”

“You must have helped Vet a lot when he was travelling in your world,” I say, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. “But I’m not trying to force you or anything, just think about it.”

“Hm, ok,” he says and opens the door. “By the way, in case you couldn’t already tell by the name, Lorule is a parallel world to Hyrule. There’s no obvious way to travel between the two worlds now, but they are still connected- always have been- so I’ve found ways to cross between them. I reckon your world might have something similar with the Twilight Realm. But I don’t know, just think about it.”

With that he leaves, closing the door behind him. I stay rooted in my seat for a moment, processing everything we discussed and hoping I don’t forget it when I wake up tomorrow morning. A yawn escapes my as I stand up and it’s the distinct clatter of precious metal slamming on the floor do I remember what I had piled on my lap this entire time. 

The door swings open and from it pops out Ravio’s head, or rather hood. He holds up a finger. “Shh! Do you want the others to wake up? And put that stuff exactly where they were, or I’ll be in trouble.”

He leaves again after that, but as he’s slowly shutting the door I see a faint white blur dart out from behind the door frame. Poor Sheerow. Must have woken him up. 

~~~

Thanks for reading!

Headcanon: Ravio refers to the chain by their titles but adds ‘mr’ at the beginning. e.g. Mr Sailor, Mr Captain, Mr Traveller etc. 

Masterlist

9th place in the LU character design ranking

Character analysis posts:

Hero of the Sky, Hero of Time, Hero of Twilight, Hero of the Wild, Hero of Warriors

Parkour team - LU drabble

How each member of the chain laughs - LU headcanon 

[seekingseven]

Hello Seeking! For a drabble request: I would love to see you write some beautiful friendship with Legend & Ravio! bonus if Warriors is there too :D

Linked Universe Prompt Requests #7!

Thanks for the awesome prompt! I'm always down to write some platonic shenanigans. Enjoy this first-person minific!

(You can also read the fic here on Ao3!)

~~~~~~

It's twenty minutes to opening time, but I've already swept the floors and opened the door. The window blinds are pulled to the side—sunlight makes the merchandise look better, I've learned—but now there are bugs crawling over the sill and leaving smears on the white paint. Sheerow picks them off. I feel a little bad about it, letting Sheerow eat the bugs instead of an actual breakfast, that is, but I think he'd prefer them over green onion omelets.

I take a seat at the table and twirl a fork between my fingers. He eats, and so do I, and there's only the sound of clicks and clunks and clinks. Dust motes fizz through the air. From across the room, I notice that the masks hanging from the wall are misaligned. White fuzz from the duster curl atop their wooden faces, and I grunt to myself. Sheerow glares at me as I stand up to brush the must off. He wants me to finish first, I’m sure.

I sneeze. It sounds aggressive, and Sheerow turns his attention back to his bugs. We talk like this, in sneezes and clicks and the occasional scratch. Mr. Hero says it's off-putting. I don't say anything, because Sheerow doesn't speak Hylian, and I don't want him to feel left out.

The masks squeak as I pinch them between my palms. Left, right, left; I never had a good sense of askew or aligned. I take a step back. It still looks crooked. Sheerow squeaks from the window, and I squeak back. He's still hungry, I know, but it doesn't look professional to be fixing merchandise when there are customers in the store, so say I'll make him breakfast once the customers come in and the wall doesn't look so slanted.

Tile creeks as I step back again. I sigh, give up, wipe the slip of sweat at the back of my neck and dry it off on my apron. My apron! I need to change into my uniform! The elemental rods on the wall bounce in their racks as I run across the store. My heels ache and my hair flops in front of my eyes. The doorknob whines as I pull it open and dart to the back room.

A purple tunic, brown boots, belt clasp. White gloves, I pull them on finger by finger, huffing as the cloth crumples and knots under the swift movements, and I stub my toe as I jam my feet in the boots. I hiss. From across the room, Sheerow makes a noise. I can't tell if he's laughing or asking if I'm okay.

I'm breathing through a curtain of hair by the time I get my belt clasp on. It sticks to my face, the hair, like licorice overcooked. I really need to get it cut. I won't, of course, because I'll forget as soon as I step back into the shop, but I tell myself that anyway. It makes me feel better. Pretending I won't forget, that is.

I pull the leather through the clasp, down to the last notch, and twist the overhang around three times so it doesn't fall off. There's not enough stuff in my size, not in Hyrule. Mr. Hero says it's because I'm XXS, I say it's because Hylians are too big. We always laugh about that. I smile to myself as I give the belt one shake, two; it's snug over my hip bones, so I leave it alone. I pull my apron off the floor and roll it between my hands—it's faster than folding it—and notice something on the windowsill. I look closer.

It's a book, green and leathery, and there's a big clasp between it's covers. A lock. I flip it over, see the gold stitching on the back. Air hisses through my teeth, and my eyebrows pull the skin of my eyelids up.

This isn't mine.

I toss the book under my arm, and, apron forgotten, dash out the door. Sheerow chitters after me, hopping away from my half-eaten breakfast (so he does like green onion omelets!), and flutters to my shoulder.

"We're heading after Mr. Hero," I say, breath short. With the back of my heel, I kick the shop door shut. Sheerow flips the "OPEN" sign over for me. A handful of villagers walking up the road give me an odd look—I would have felt bad if they were customers, but I know they aren't, so I give them a fake smile as I run along.

Immediately I regret tightening my belt so much. Something soft and moving presses against the strip of leather, and Sheerow picks anxiously at the knotted overhang. I wave him away with one hand, already sweating, and jerk my shoulder up until the book is snuggled safely under my arm. My back is wet. Sheerow's wings flap against the tips of my ears, and the floor blurs underfoot. My chest starts to feel fuzzy, and I stop for a minute to catch my breath. The blood running to my heart bulges into my head, and I pressed the back of my head to my cheek. It's hot—the air, my head, and my cheek. I groan. Sheerow pinches the sweatiest part of my shirt between his beak and flaps backward, allowing a wisp of breeze to slip in, and I thank him.

"We need to keep going," I insist, more to myself than to him. Slowly, I uncurl my spine from its hunch. Bones click as I pull my hips forward and grind my heels into the floor. There's a reason I don't play sports. "He's going to be very upset if he realizes he left this at the shop; we need to catch up to him before he makes it to that portal."

Sheerow twitters. Legs burning, I try and break back into a run. I ignore the head tilts and squinting eyes of passersbys. Usually, I wouldn't, but if I spent too long brooding on it I would get distracted, and then Mr. Hero would leave, and his adventure would be ruined when he realized what he forgot.

The stone underfoot turns to dirt, then to water as I splash through a brook. I could have hopped over it, the brook, that is, but the water feels good against my shins, and, anyway, if I turn up looking weather worn, maybe Mr. Hero would feel obligated to buy something from the shop.

There's chattering up ahead, baritone, and sweat drips into my smile.

"Almost there," I puff, trying to shake off the blades of grass sticking to my wet legs. I shift the book from one arm to another and comb a hand through my hair. Sheerow is circling my head. Curled breezes slide down my hair and neck, and I thank him again as I pick my way through the underbrush. Something bites me. I squeak. Sheerow bites it in retaliation as I swipe off the bead of red on my leg. I want to look rugged, but not that rugged.

The voices ahead grow louder as I pull closer. There's a flash of blue between the trees.

"Hey!" I cry. Sheerow lets out an avian equivalent of the greeting, and a face turns towards me. Pale, blond, blue-eyed; just like Mr. Hero's, but a little shapelier. I said the same during dinner last night; everyone laughed. Except Mr. Hero, of course. He kicked me under the table.

I'm pretty sure he thought it was funny, though.

"Oh, hey there, Ravio! Where did you come from?

"My house! Uh, is Mr. Hero ahead? He left something!"

The man glances backwards, then turns towards me. It's only when he's a few paces away that I realize how tall he is. What was his name, again? Captain? Warriors? I'll just call him sir; better to be safe than sorry.

"Legend already ran ahead, but if you want me to give him anything I can take it for you,” he says. “Want to hand it to me? Must be something important! You look a little bungled up. Is that cut on your arm okay?"

I glance at my arm. Something has torn at my sleeve, and there's red under the cut cloth. I groan. The other hero lets out a friendly laugh and extends his hand, repeating his earlier question.

"Oh!" I say. "I’m fine. And yes, it is very important, you're right! Here you go. Be careful with it. Don't lose it, yeah?"

He takes it, eyebrows furrowed, and lets it bounce lightly in one hand. The look in his eye is familiar.

"You don't know what it is?" I ask. The words sound a little more disbelieving than I meant them to.

"Well, not exactly. Your friend owns a lot of weird stuff, you know."

"That's, well, that's true. Uh, so, that's a coupon book. Very important. Don't lose it!"

The other hero flinched, muscles in his neck jerking back as he gave the book a hard look. "Coupon book?"

I open my mouth. Far away, a clock chimes ten. Sheerow gives me a panicked look. The shop!

"Coupon book!" I blabber, already turning to go. "Very important. He's going to lose his mind if he realizes that he doesn't have it with him. Anyway! I need to go. Bye!"

I turn quickly and run. Something snags my foot, but I stumble only a little before I'm out of sight. Or, at least, I think I am, because it takes Sheerow a minute to find me. Behind me, the other hero is calling, but I don't turn back. Sheerow chatters into my ear as we run along.

"I know, I know, but he would be so upset if he didn't have it. Anyway, business is slow in the morning. I think we'll be fine!"

Only the first part was true, but it didn't matter.

~~ Fine ~~ I hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for reading! [Previous Request] - [Next Request]

[legendofzelda-secretsanta]

here's a little introspective piece for @just--another--outcast on ravio and link's relationship!!

He’s been waiting for the guy to wake up for a while. Like, a long while. Thirty minutes have passed at the least. He’s not irritated or annoyed, though, more just… worried. It’s weird being worried about himself.

Ravio knows that Yuga couldn’t have done that much damage to the guy, but he frets momentarily whether or not there could be lasting damage. There wouldn’t be, right? He was counting on him to help out!

Maybe… maybe there had been some permanent damage, Ravio thought. He’d already done a quick glance over the guy’s extremities to make sure he wasn’t that hurt, but he hadn’t really looked very carefully.

He reaches out a tentative, purple sleeve and softly brushes it against the guy’s arm.

No response.

He squeezes it gently, feeling for any broken bones or anything that Yuga could’ve done. He finds nothing.

Did he hit his head on something? Was that why he wouldn’t wake up? He’d heard from one of his customers that head injuries could cause comas, but was that what was happening here?

Ravio draws back in shock, breathing in quickly. What if the guy was in a coma? What would he do then? There’d be no way to help Hilda!

Hilda.                                        

He pulls up a chair next to the guy and sits down, absently stroking Sheerow. His little bird friend chirps and snuggles up into his scarf, and Ravio feels a little calmer.

He’s probably overreacting again, as usual. He’ll just wait for the guy to wake up, and when he does, he’ll think about what to do from then. It’ll be fine.

He sits there for maybe another ten minutes before the guy starts to stir. He groans quietly, and Ravio wonders if he’s having a nightmare. He’s mouthing something that Ravio can’t quite make out, balling his fists and squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

Ravio’s had nightmares too. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night not sure who he is. He feels like he’s himself, but not exactly him. It’s a weird feeling. He wonders if the guy is having the same nightmare that he has. He knows better than to bother people having nightmares, but everything about this guy piques his curiosity.

The guy’s eyes open and Ravio is taken momentarily by how blue they are, and how they are not green like his, but bright, baby blue. The guy looks around drearily, eyes still unfocused and disoriented, so Ravio does the one thing he knows would definitely wake anybody up.

He sticks his face right into the guy’s nose.

The guy screams and tumbles out of his bed.

Ravio knows he shouldn’t be laughing, but he just can’t stop it. Sheerow flutters off his shoulder where he had been perching and hovers over the guy.

“Ooooh, you’re waking up!” He exclaims, clapping his hands together and leaning down a little bit so he can see the guy a better. Even if the hood does conceal his identity, it’s still really bothersome to look out from. “Good! I was starting to worry about you, buddy.”

“The name’s Ravio,” He introduces. He waits for a response. He quirks an eyebrow and leans down a little more to make sure the guy can hear him. “Hey, you listening to me? What, the rug tastes really good or something?” Maybe humor will lighten the mood a little more.

The guy grumbles from his place on the floor and Ravio brightens up. “I’m a traveling merchant,” He explains, “I found you in the Sanctuary. Passed out. Alone. Strange, if you ask me.”

The guy finally sits up and Ravio is again blown away by how blue his eyes are. His hair is a soft, fluffy shade of auburn, his skin is a warm peach, his eyes are the color of the sky and deeper than he can see. He wonders for a moment if the guy would be thinking similar things if he let him see his face.

He continues with his story, “It looked like you needed a pal, so I took the liberty of lugging you here to this vacant house. Seemed like a perfect place for you to shake off the snores.”

“U-Um, this-, uh, this is my house.”

Ravio is surprised, enough with the surprises, guy, yet again by how different the guy is from him. Ravio’s always had people tell him how loud and confident his voice sounds, but this guy? It’s soft and nervous and stuttering and Ravio can’t help but marvel over his counterpart again.

Of course he knew that this was gonna be the guy’s house. It’s in the same location as his own in Lorule. But he’s gotta act surprised to keep up his cover. “Say what?” He shouts. “This is your house? Looked empty-ish to me.”

And it’s true! The guy’s house is clean and organized unlike his dirty mess of a home. It’s got a warm feeling to it, though, and Ravio likes that.

“I have a, um, sign. Out front. It says that this is my house.”

Ravio raises an eyebrow that the guy can’t see. “Oh, really? I didn’t see that.”

The guy sputters and looks down. “I-I mean, I wouldn’t blame you? You were probably focusing on, uh, other stuff. Like me. Thanks, by the way. And sorry.”

It’s funny in a disturbing sort of way to see someone almost identical to him act so differently. “Nah, don’t apologize! I just did what any normal person would do, y’know? I think anybody who found somebody passed out on the ground would try to help out.”

The guy chuckles nervously. “Y-Yeah. Thanks.”

“Wait, so tell me… What happened to you, buddy?” Ravio asks. He already kinda knows what happened, but he really just wants to clarify.

“Um… Seres got turned into a painting...?” Ravio waits for a continuation but the guy seems to be done with his explanation.

“You don’t say!” Ravio exaggerates as he draws back, biting back what little bits of sarcasm he can. “Some strange man turned a girl into a painting?” Maybe if he just… helps this guy along. Little bits at a time.

“Oh, uh… yeah? He had a really pointy nose and I think he had a lot of makeup on. I think. I can’t really remember him that well.” The guy mumbles, scuffing his feet on his rug. Ravio wants to tell him that he’s remembering Yuga just perfectly but he’ll keep that to himself.

“So you got done in trying to stop him, huh?” C’mon, guy, you can do it…

He rubs the back of his head. “Well, I mean… I tried to? It, uh, didn’t work out at all-,”

The look on the guy’s face is getting awfully dark and Ravio knows when to stop. “That makes you a hero, buddy!” He yells enthusiastically, waving his arms around. “A real, live, genuine hero!”

A world saver.

The guy blushes and fiddles with the hem of his tunic- a habit, maybe? He’s trying to make words but it seems to Ravio that he’s too embarrassed to. He looks almost like Hilda when she gets flustered for once.

And at that point, Ravio remembers exactly where he is and what he needs to be doing.

“But why are you standing around talking to me then?” He flaps his arms and dances around nervously, shouting, “You’ve gotta report this to the castle!” Sheerow dances along with him.

“O-Oh, you’re right!” The guy nods and stumbles over to the door.

Ravio spots something gleaming and silver next to the table by the guy’s bed and it’s his sword, why is this guy trying to leave without his sword-

“Your sword, pal! Don’t forget your-,”

“Oh! Thank you for reminding me- oh, oh man-,” The guy scrambles back to the table and grabs the blade before running back over to the door when Ravio yet again remembers something important.

“Oh! Hey! Wait a minute.” He calls.

The guy turns around with his big blue eyes wide open. “Yeah?”

Ravio scratches his head uncomfortably, “To tell you the truth, I’ve been looking for a place to stay. It’s been hard to find somewhere good. So, uh. This is awkward…” Ravio hates making requests and hates owing people, but he figures he’ll just have to suck it up for this one time. “Mind if I stay here for a while? Just a couple of days, I promise!”

He expects the immediate cringe and short no but it never comes.

“Of course. Feel free to make yourself at home.” The guy smiles and him and Ravio is blown away yet again by how different they are from each other, and he wonders if Hilda and her counterpart are just as much opposites as they are.

“Really!? Thanks a million!” Ravio cheers, dancing around with Sheerow. “Finally! No more sleeping out in the wild!” He turns to the guy with a sheepish look on his face, “Tough world out there, y’know?”

The guy’s eyes dart to the side for a moment before he nods quietly. Ravio wonders what he’s thinking about.

“Here-,” Ravio says, reaching into his rucksack and digging around-, “take this. I can’t pay rent yet. But it’s something, at least.”

He finds the bracelet and hands it to the guy when he walks over. It’s one of his most prized possessions, old and so, so precious, a true artifact that he was lucky to find. It also has those special uses that Ravio’s sure will help the guy out in whatever he’s gotta do from here out. “I know it looks like a hunk of junk, but it’s older than old. A real treasure, that thing-,”

“Uh…”

“Uh, what?” Ravio asks.

The guy blinks and sniffs the bracelet, what the heck, before flinching away. “U-Um, it’s got, uh, kind of an… odor? I-I don’t-,”

“What odor?” Ravio asks, and he’s a little bit upset now because this is history in objective form- “You don’t want it because it smells funny?”

The guy nods but he looks apologetic and sad. Ravio almost feels bad for him.

“That’s the smell of history, buddy!” He shouts, and he knows this isn’t a good time to get heated and passionate about his specialty subject but it’s too late now, “Musty leather! Moldy aromas! The rich fragrance of a relic!” He accents each thing with a wave of his hand.

“S-Sorry-,” The guy starts to say, but Ravio’s had too much of his sad puppy eyes.

“Ok, fine. I’ll admit that it smells like a wet dog.” He sees the way the guy’s eyes light up momentarily and he’s a little proud of himself for making him smile. “But you gotta know, that’s a good smell. Besides…” He’s gotta make sure the guy wears it, after all, “it’s a gift. So the least you could do is wear it, buddy!” He hasn’t even spent that long with the guy but he already feels like guilt tripping is one of his weaknesses.

“A-Alright. Thank you, Ravio.” The guy says, slipping the bracelet on his wrist. It’s a little too big on him, and Ravio wonders if the guy’s wrists are as bony as his.

He grins. “Now, pronto, buddy! To the castle! Hurry!!”

And as the guy runs off and opens his door to leave, Ravio calls, “Bye now! See ya, Mr. Hero!”

  When Mr. Hero comes back, he’s a lot worse off than Ravio expected he would be. He hears the door open and turns around, “Welcome home, Mr. Hero! You said it was alright to stay here, so I’ve made myself at-,”

He turns around and Mr. Hero’s got a bad limp that Ravio doesn’t remember from last time and scratches and bruises all over his face.

“What happened!?” He shouts, dropping whatever he was holding and running over to make sure he’s ok. His fingertips brush against a particularly raw scratch on his cheek and Mr. Hero flinches back.

“N-No, there were just a few Octoroks that I didn’t expect would show up.”

“Where were you?” Ravio asks, trying to force down the worry that’s lodged in his throat.

“By the Eastern Palace- I saw your signs, by the way.” His voice is too soft and Ravio almost can’t catch the last few words.

“What’s that?” He asks. “Saw my signs at the Eastern Palace, did you?”

Mr. Hero nods. “Mmhmm.”

“Ahh, I was going to open a store near the palace, but when I saw all the monsters I hightailed it outta there!” There were so many Octoroks and Chus and so many of those nasty little- Ravio sighs. “Way too many monsters around there for my liking, you get me?”

Mr. Hero shrugs and nods.

“But,” Ravio walks back to his dropped items after deciding that Mr. Hero isn’t hurt that badly, “I seem to recall some stone pedestals near my signs! Did you see a symbol on them?”

“Oh, uh… yeah. I did.”

“Oh, you did? Well, do you remember what the symbol was?” If he gets this question right, maybe he’ll let Mr. Hero rent his bow for free. That’d be a good deal, right? He needs it, after all.

“Um… I think it was a bow and arrow?” Mr. Hero tries, brows drawn together and frowning slightly. “It might’ve been something else…”

“That’s right!” Ravio exclaims, clapping his hands. “It was a bow and arrow! Remind you of anything? Like maybe… this?” He pulls out the bow from his rucksack and hands it to Mr. Hero with a flourish.

He’s fond of this bow. He stuck his own little rabbit mark at one of the ends, and the feathers on the arrow match his color scheme. He likes having matching themes for his stuff. “Normally I’d charge you a rental fee, but I’ll lend it to you for free.” He keeps himself from saying this time, anyway.

“O-Oh, thanks.” Mr. Hero takes the bow and hangs it with his sword on his back. “I’m sure it’ll come in handy. When do you want me to return it?”

Ravio hadn’t thought of that. “Well, hmm… Let’s just think about that later. For now, though, we gotta think up a strategy for you!”

“W-What do you mean?” Mr. Hero asks, obviously confused.

Ravio clicks his tongue. “Well, y’see, Mr. Hero-,”

“It’s Link.”

Ravio looks up. “Link?”

Mr. Hero bites his lower lip and flushes. “M-My name. That’s my name. I-I realized I hadn’t told you my name.”

Link, huh? Awfully different from Ravio.

“Huh.” Ravio looks at Link’s face a little more. “You do look like a Link, huh?” The name matches him.

“Thanks, I guess.”

But, as they have priorities, Ravio pulls the topic back on track. “So! Strategy! What’re you gonna do?”

Link bites his lip again. “I was thinking that I’d, um… just go back to the Eastern Palace and then go help out Osfala.”

Ravio starts to realize that planning ahead might not be this guy’s forte.

“And? What if you can’t find Osfala so easily?” Ravio probes, darting his head back and forth. “What if he runs away?”

“Uhh…” He’d obviously not thought about that, “f…Follow him?”

“But what if it’s dangerous? What if there’re monsters where he went?”

“Um-,”

“You’ve gotta think of at least one way to escape at all times!” Ravio shouts, gesturing with his arms. “How’re you gonna get out if things get sticky?” It’s one of his base rules that he follows at all costs, and if Link doesn’t get it yet, he’ll just have to help him out a little more.

“Why would I need to think of one?”

“Exactl-,” Ravio blinks. “Wait, what?”

Link’s staring at him like he’s an alien. “Why would I need to escape?”

“B-Because it’s dangerous?” Ravio sputters. “Why else would you need one?”

“But if I’m in danger, that means Osfala probably is too. I can’t just leave him.” Link says, acting like it’s common sense.

Ravio is left spluttering as Link asks, voice soft. “Would you?”

“W-Well, I-I-,” He can’t answer because his throat is choked with guilt and shame.

He finds it ironic how they are opposites in the worst ways. Link is honest and courageous in all the ways Ravio always wished he could be, while Ravio is sneaky and manipulative to hide how much of a coward he is.

Link stares at him for a few moments with his deep, soul-piercing blue eyes before they soften. “It’s alright to be scared,” and Ravio wonders how Link can read him so well. “You’re brave in other ways.”

Ravio doubts that somehow. “Really?”

“Y-Yeah.” Link says, scratching the back of his head. “I-I can’t talk to people very easily because I get nervous; and even when I do, I always mess up w-what I’m trying to say. I wish I could talk as confidently as you.”

Ravio huffs. “Anybody can talk loud.”

“There’s- There’s a difference between talking loud and talking with confidence!” Link says, “A-And even if you didn’t believe me there, remember; you came all this way just to set up a shop! If that’s not brave, I-I don’t know what is.”

Link’s attempts to cheer him up are little more than the same phrases that he’s heard from most of his customers, but somehow the fact that it’s Link telling him these things cheers Ravio.

Link leaves to head off to go help Osfala and Ravio is left wishing he could be more like Link.

  The next time Link comes back long enough for a meaningful conversation, Ravio doesn’t want him to leave anymore. He’d come back before to pick up new items that Ravio was renting out, but he’d left soon afterwards.

When he comes back this time, he’s scarred and bruised, beaten down and in pain, when he walks in through his door. He’s using his sheathed sword as a cane and is only just barely staying upright. He leans heavily on the door as he shuts it behind him before sliding down, letting out a shuddering, pained breath.

Ravio screams.

“MR. HERO- O-OH MY-,”

He runs over awkwardly, the ends of his purple robe are getting in the way, and falls to his knees by Link, nervously flapping his hands. “W-What happened!? A-Are you-,”

He notices a large bloodstain on Link’s tunic that is steadily growing and he feels absolutely nothing but guilt for wanting to throw up.

Link flinches back violently and Ravio wants to vomit again, what happened to him, why is he so scared, stuttering out broken apologies and moans.

“I-It hurts-,”

He calls out to him gently. “Mr. Hero?” When there’s no response, he tries again. “Link?”

Link looks up with heavy-lidded eyes. “H-Hilda? I-Is that-,”

Ravio goes and pukes in the tiny wastebasket Link keeps by his bed.

  When he’s finally recovered enough, Ravio hauls Link onto his bed and wraps his injuries with potion soaked bandages.

The wound on his chest seems to be worse than he imagined at first; it’s a deep cut going across the left side of his abdomen. He wonders what enemy had a sword big enough and strong enough to cut through Link’s defenses and into flesh.

He falls asleep by Link’s side, and when he wakes up, Link is absently rubbing his hands along the ears of his hood, eyes still closed.

“Are you feeling better?” Ravio asks quietly and slowly as to not startle him.

Blue eyes open and Link smiles at him. “Yeah. Thank you, Ravio.”

  Link recovers, even if he never loses that limp in his left leg or if he can’t seem to grip his shield as steadily with his right hand, but the next time Ravio sees him, he’s saved two worlds.

He’s proud.