#hyrule's cursed blood

[la-sera]

Warning: Blood

Oops..

Hyrule is used to seeing wounds and blood but panics 1000 times more when he sees his own blood.

[skyward-floored]

I'm trying to figure out how the whole "resurrecting Ganon with Hyrule's blood" thing works because I've never really seen it explained anywhere. The farthest I've gotten is that the monsters claim that mixing his blood with Ganon's ashes will cause the resurrection, but I can't find anything that says why that works in the first place.

Do you know or at least have a guess?

I did a bit of digging, but that was all I could find as well, unfortunately. I found a scan of the manual, which is where the blood over ashes thing seems to come from, but it doesn’t explain much else. It says this about it:

“The key to Ganon’s return was the blood of Link— the valiant lad who overthrew the King of Evil. Ganon would be revived by sacrificing Link and sprinkling his blood on the ashes of Ganon.”

...that’s all we really seem to know. Though I suppose we also know that it could actually happen— the game over screen literally says “game over, return of Ganon” with a very much alive Ganon in the background.

It seems to me that it might have to be Hyrule’s blood because he was the one who defeated Ganon in the first place, but I honestly don’t know. Sorry there wasn’t much more I could find!

[needfantasticstories]

Here Now (4954 words) by SkipBreaker

Art by @hiimgin. Beta reading by @hotcheetohatredwastaken. Additional info at the bottom.

Summary: Sky, Twilight, and Hyrule go on patrol, and grapple with Hyrule's past.

HERE NOW

 

Part 1: CAMP

Logs crackled pleasantly in the fire pit Hyrule and Legend had built.

Hyrule sat on the end of his bedroll and stared at the orange flames that kept the chill evening air at bay. Fire was a luxury back home, but common while traveling with the eight other heroes.

They’d come through a portal to a new era at midday. Not mine , he’d realized with relief. The grass was too green, and the sky too clear. None of the others recognized it either.

With no sign of black-blooded monsters, or nearby settlements, Wild had insisted they camp and restock on elixirs for the coming fights.

The sun glowed a white-gold as it settled into a shroud of clouds above the horizon. Time stopped searching the trees and settled into cleaning his armor. Sky sat on the opposite side of the fire and began tuning his harp. Wind dragged Four to sit with him, complaining about his dull knife. Twilight and Warrior joined Wild by the fire to chat. 

The trees slowly darkened into silhouettes, narrowing the world down to the glow of their campfire.  

Legend huffed as he sat and leaned heavily on Hyrule and pulled out a ripped tunic and a small, fabric lined box of needles and threads. 

“Hey, I’m not your furniture,” Hyrule protested.

“Fine. I’ll keep my Roc cloak for myself tonight,” Legend replied coolly.

“Oh fine, go on then. Ravio has been rubbing off on you.” Hyrule laughed and braced his legs to his chest to support Legend’s weight. With a smile, he continued to watch the fire and his brothers. 

Savory aromas of beef and herbs filled the clearing as Wild stood by the fire, working his subtle magic that, despite Hyrule’s assurance, he firmly insisted wasn’t magic at all.   

The sky grew pink and purple as the sun dropped below the hills. The shing , shing of Four guiding Wind through how to sharpen his knife made a steady, musical rhythm to Sky’s soft harp strums. Twilight and Wild bantered as the cook served bowls for Warrior to pass around. 

Wind held up his blade and tested the edge with a bit of rope. It cut the strands cleanly. “I can work so much faster with this! Can I take you home with me, Smithy?” 

Four smiled proudly. “You can pay me back with a copy of your star charts sometime.” 

Wind let his hands fall to his lap, and frowned. “Do you ever think about what will happen with us after all this? After we stop Shadow?” 

The camp grew quiet. 

Sky broke the silence, gazing fondly at his harp. “I imagine we’ll find our way back to our own times. At least, I hope so.” 

“Same, though I think Wild might try to rope me into his world if I let him,” Twilight laughed and clapped Wild on the back.

“I’d miss your old muzzle too much to leave you alone,” Wild snorted in answer. “I suspect you’ll find a way back to my world someday, one way or another.”

“I hadn’t thought it possible we could stay long in each other’s worlds. What about you, Legend? What are your plans?” Hyrule asked. It would have been a miracle if the Hero of Legend could visit him in his own time, somehow. If only his time wasn’t still suffering from famine and the lingering armies of Ganon hunting him to resurrect the king of evil. But even Wild’s era had a few pools of Malice here and there, right? Still, it was healthy. Who would ever want to come to his era? It was a death wish.

“Well, as much as I love roughing it with you lot in the mud and rain, I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed, in my own home. In peace.”

A cold breeze found its way through the trees and coursed up Hyrule’s spine. He stared at the fire in thought while Legend continued to gush about his orchard. 

“What about you, Traveler? What do you look forward to when this is over?” Four asked, digging into the soup Warrior was passing out.

Hyrule mulled over their various homes. Time had a ranch with Malon. Sky had his floating village, Wind had Outset Island. Twilight longed for Ordon, Four his forge, Warrior his fiancee and her castle. Even Wild had purchased a house, though he admitted he barely used it. 

Hyrule missed the castle, but he couldn’t go back until the monster stopped hunting him. His cave? Perhaps, but it didn’t feel like home anymore. Not like this. This was home. Among friends, traveling the world, helping protect people and discovering more about fighting and magic and history than he could ever have dreamed. He’d seen islands floating in the sky! Forests more full of fairies than trees! With Wild’s Zora armor, he’d even swam up a waterfall, and used his glider to soar back down to earth! He’d never be able to do that in the polluted rivers back home! And snow! Twilight still held the record for shield surfing, but he was catching up. 

Hylia, the goddess he’d never known existed before this journey, had truly blessed him with a refuge from the storm of his homeland. 

“Traveler?” 

“I don’t know. I suppose… I’m already happy.”

“Aw!” Warrior set Hyrule’s soup down and plopped beside him. He put an arm around him and rubbed his hair roughly with his other hand. “This kid! I’m actually gonna miss you. Not like that one.” He pointed to Legend. 

“Tch, that’s a lie,” Hyrule scoffed and shoved Warrior away with his shoulder. The Captain fell sideways but held onto Hyrule, pulling them both down. 

“Watch it, Wars!” Legend yelled. 

Hyrule tried to pull free of the Captain’s arm, but the knight held fast. Hyrule put all his might behind it, his arms burning from the strain, and by inches he loosened the Captain’s grip. 

“You’re getting stronger, but not there yet!” The Captain groaned.

“I nearly stabbed my thumb, thank you very much!” Legend yelled at Warrior. 

“Hey now! Hyrule’s the one who shoved!” 

“He was defending my honor, so it’s your fault.”

Hyrule and Warrior both broke into laughter—Hyrule in proud victory and Warrior in admitted defeat—and the Captain finally let go and collapsed on the ground. 

Hyrule offered his hand. 

The Captain grabbed it and tried to pull him down, but Hyrule was ready and hauled him upward. 

“Fine, Collector, keep your blindspot. Thanks, Rulie. Here’s dinner.” Warriors passed them their bowls, which had mercifully survived the scuffle. 

Hyrule savored the stew, letting steam warm his face before taking a bite of the creamy, savory broth. He looked around as he ate, and watched the others quickly finishing their own meals.

Let these days last, he thought. He knew it was selfish. It would have to end, as everything did. But he didn’t want to imagine a future without them in it anymore than a future living on the run, without Dawn and Aurora. He knew, logically, that they would all part someday. 

But not today. 

He watched as Wild set aside the cooking pot and pulled out an older exclusively for making elixirs. Hyrule turned away and instead watched Legend resume his careful, methodical stitching; but the Champion lingered in his thoughts. He didn’t like knowing where the Champion’s elixirs came from. He pitied the beetles, butterflies and lizards, and the monster parts smelled awful. Then again, at least Wild found a way to channel the evil remnants of Ganon’s power into something useful. How strange. How was it possible? Could Dawn, proficient as she was with magic and rebirth, find a way to change the poison in their land into a blessing, somehow? What sort of ingredients like the beetles and butterflies would it require— He stopped the thought dead; he didn’t like where it was going at all, and he focused instead on Legend’s stitching while the spike in his heartbeat settled. 

Time broke the comfortable silence that had settled over them after dinner. “We should scout one more time before settling in for the night. Sky, Twilight, Hyrule, it’s your turn to run a perimeter check.”

With a hum of grumbled complaints about being half-asleep already, the trio yawned, and stretched.

Time clapped Twilight’s shoulder as he left, then Sky’s, nodding in unspoken but clear appreciation to both.

“We can work on your footwork for the landing before breakfast, if you’re up for it, Hyrule,” Time whispered to him at his turn. Hyrule smiled and nodded, then hurried to follow after Sky and Twilight into the woods. 

None of them saw the storm until sheets of rain descended.

 

Part 2: SHELTER

Hyrule braced his shield over his head. A torrent of rain driven by a wall of wind pelted Hyrule and Sky. Drops struck like tiny arrows, stinging Hyrule’s legs through his trousers. They clung to the steep hillside that exposed them to the storm, inching back the way they’d come. Before the rains veiled the land, the campfire was easy to see, but in the gale Hyrule had lost his sense of direction. Several trees above them thrashed and groaned, threatening to break and roll down over them.  

“I still can’t find the trail!” Twilight shouted over the storm.  

“There’s got to be something we can do,” Sky looked around, his hair plastered to his face where it stuck out from under his sailcloth.

Hyrule looked around too, and in a flash of lightning, he found what he needed. 

“There’s a gap in the rocks up there! Let’s go there until the storm passes!” Hyrule yelled over the rumble of thunder.

The gap in the steep hillside turned out to be a deep cave. While the gently rising path blocked wind and rain, they radiated the cold back to them, and the three shivered as they explored the length of the narrow room. Twilight led the way in with his lantern. 

The stone entrance slammed shut behind them.

“It’s a dungeon,” Twilight pointed out the obvious. 

Sky let out a long-suffering sigh, pulled out a torch, and once alight he raised it high.  

The cave opened into a massive hall lined with brick. Triangle symbols adorned the upper reaches in a band of simple geometric patterns. Only the back wall remained in a more natural state, save for the massive relief carving. 

Stone steps led up to a dais before the rock wall where stood a massive stone beast that seemed trapped in the rock, leaning forward in an effort to free itself. It sat on a cracked throne three time’s Hyrule’s height with a door hiding in the shadows between its feet. 

Roughly cut features, gouges still evident from the tools used to carve it, cast dancing shadows all over its bulbous, misshapen body. Two massive tusks jutted from the wall, possibly added later. One had broken off and its shattered remains littered the dais. The wide face had a grotesque, triangular nose and gaping holes for eyes. The movement of Twilight’s lamp made the eyes seem to shift back and forth between them. 

It wasn’t just the statue that made Hyrule panic.

Seeing the rough boar carving in this unfamiliar dungeon, a massive homage to beast Ganon. 

What lay before him, at its feet, chilled his blood.

Sky and Twilight stopped on either side of him.

“What in the clouds is that?” Sky asked, moving closer to the enormous carving. 

“Remember how we all faced a being named Ganon? That’s him.” Twilight spat at the statue’s feet. 

Sky frowned at the hideous thing,running his hand along one carved leg. He sneered at the jagged, artless edges. The statue barely resembles the beast, but somehow captured all of his malevolence.

“Hyrule, are you okay?”

Not really, he thought, but he dared not say it. They had a dungeon to escape.

“I’m fine.” He forced himself to borrow a smile and look forward to the dark hallway under the beast’s legs. He refused to think about the bowl-shaped altar at its feet, or how the groove from the center to the edge would pour any liquid inside out of the bowl. 

Into the waiting ashes of Ganon.

He pushed onward. This wasn’t his era. It couldn’t be. Too green, too clean, too clear-skied.

Sky moved ahead of him, taking the lead as his torch burned brighter than Twilight’s lantern. Soon, he stopped. 

“I see two doors ahead, left, right, and forward. Any guesses on where to start?”

“Left,” Twilight and Hyrule said.

“I was going to say right. I guess I’m outvoted.” Sky shrugged.

 

Part 3: LEFT

It took all of Hyrule’s Thunder spell, or “Hyrule’s Fury” as Wild insisted on calling it, to clear the horde of skeleton soldiers that rose over and over from the floor in the left room. By the time Twilight revealed the hidden wizzrobe with his ghost lantern and Sky blasted it with a skyward strike, the trio had used up most of their supplies.

“There’s a chest!” Hyrule called out, and ran to the back of the room.

The lid creaked open, and after brushing aside cobwebs he found a large iron key.

“Looks like we might have a way out.”

“Door on the right?” Sky asked, with a mocking grin, hands on his hips.

“Door on the right,” Twilight said with a sigh, marched ahead. 

Hyrule hurried to follow after the taller hero. 

Part 4: RIGHT

Twilight pushed open the other door and led the way inside. 

Unlike the brick walls of the earlier rooms, this one remained untamed. Stalactites and stalagmites reached for one another, and the largest ones had joined into eight massive pillars around the room. Luminous crystals, like the stones Wild had shown them, lit the ceiling and walls in a cold, eerie glow. Water dripped from the spiked ceiling.

In the shadows at the far end of the room, between pillars of stalagmites, a monster stirred. 

Hyrule gasped in surprise. He knew this beast! 

In the dim crystal light, Hyrule could see the blue lynel pace, turn, and stare them down. 

Black eyes glittered as it studied them. It cantered closer. The lion-face glowered and bared its knife-sharp teeth. Its human-like chest raised up a massive longsword in both hands. Iron-shod hooves stomped, reverberating through the stone floor.  

Then it looked directly at Hyrule, and its eyes narrowed. The grimace flipped into a feral grin.

“Sacrifice!” it roared.

Hyrule gripped his sword and stepped forward. He wouldn’t let his brothers suffer for his curse. He could handle a lynel. He just had to keep it from burning them all, and himself from bleeding, or else—

Sky held up his blade. “What under heaven is it?”

Hyrule pulled out his magic shield. “Go back to the entrance. Both of you need to bomb that statue into rubble,” he ordered. “I can deal with him.”

“Alone?” Twilight asked incredulously. 

“I killed dozens of them before Wind’s age.”

“No. It’s too dangerous for any of us to go alone. We stay together,” Twilight barked. 

“Fine! Shields up! It breathes fire.”

“At least we’ll finally dry off , ” Sky grumbled, adjusting his shield. 

They prepared just in time. The lynel stopped his approach and roared, blasting fire at them.

Hyrule blocked it with his shield, and the fire quickly faded. Twice more it hurled the flames with the same result. 

Roaring with fury, the lynel charged, galloping louder than a thunderstorm. 

Hrulle’s world shrank down to the fury in the lynel’s eyes. His friends could not suffer from his monsters. He would not let his horrors become theirs, nor would he let it take them away from him.

Hyrule yelled at the monster, and ran. 

The lynel turned away from the other two heroes, nearly tripping over its own legs to chase him. 

Hyrule dodged between dripping pillars, twisting and weaving through the narrowest gaps he could find, the beast on his tail. He led it to a far corner of the deep cavern. He turned with his shield high, planted his feet, raised his sword, and braced himself for the impact. 

It grinned as it charged, seeing him cornered. 

Time had warned him. He still needed to master the landing. 

But he could not risk waiting now.

The lynel’s snarling face held his gaze as the broadsword slammed into his shield with a terrible wrenching sound.  It cut through the shield! A pulse, like lightning, shot up his right arm. His vision swam as the blow threatened to shove him down. 

But the lynel staggered back. It stared blankly at him, stunned. 

It worked! Now, for the rest!

Hyrule jumped with every ounce of strength he could muster in his legs, and not with the aid of magic but purely his own strength. Let the momentum carry you, The memory of Time’s deep voice calmed him. 

His body rose into the air in a dense, forceful way so different from his Fairy form—raw, propulsive momentum in place of delicate wings gently riding the air. The world curved gracefully as he somersaulted higher, his sword at the ready. 

Helm splitter. 

His blade slammed into the beast’s skull. 

Dark ooze clung to the edge of his blade as he rolled forward. 

Black blood? 

For a moment, he remained weightless, then panic set in as he began to descend. If he had enough magic, he’d have cast his fairy spell to save himself, but none remained. 

Remember, don’t try any of this until you can stick the landing.

The ceiling and the floor spun and merged into a smear of light and dark, His stomach swooped and churned as gravity grabbed him. He catapulted downward, and tried in vain to grab something, anything.

Far beyond the lynel, his legs slammed onto merciless stone, but his body continued forward until his head cracked against the cold stone. He lay in a blinding haze of numbness and confusion.

Through the ringing in his ear, he heard a muffled yell. 

Someone was shouting, the sound reverberating painfully in his skull. The words slowly pieced together. It was …the kingdom? No, his name . 

“Hyrule! Wake up!” 

He tried to sit up, but he couldn’t! Couldn’t see! Couldn’t breathe! 

A familiar hand grabbed his shoulder as he gaped like a fish, trying to pull in the intangible substance all around him, but his lungs refused to draw the air in. 

At last, his lungs opened, and he gasped, painfully loud to his aching ears. His vision returned. The ringing sound finally stopped.

“Hyrule? You with us? Thank Hylia!”

He tried to make sense of what he saw. Sky’s worried face. Twilight’s frown. 

“‘Rulie, are you alright?” The ranch hand asked gruffly. 

Hyrule winced as he sat up. Too much happened all at once. 

His head. His arm. His brothers. Where was the lynel?

Sky moved closer so Hyrule could lean on his shoulder. Hyrule appreciated the rest, and collapsed onto him. The pressure in his head and on his arm grew stronger, sharper. 

“Nice back slice.” Sky nodded to Twilight.

“Good timing with that skyward strike,” Twilight panted in reply, clapping Sky on the back. “And you, that looked familiar.”

Hyrule didn’t have the energy to respond, only nodding with a faint smile. 

“Rulie?” Twilight asked, and moved closer.

Sky carefully pulled up Hyrule's arm, but Hyrule gasped in pain and refused to look, not yet, watching Sky’s reaction instead. 

Sky’s worried eyes told Hyrule enough. He had already felt warm liquid trickling down the side of his face and down his arm. Pressure built unbearably in his head, and worse in his shield arm. The rush of adrenaline was hiding the worst of his injuries, but he knew it was bad.

He had to know. He had to fix it.  

Carefully, Hyrule touched his temple and looked down at his hands.

Blood. 

Hyrule’s throat tightened. The pressure in his right arm built into a searing pain. Hyrule winced and finally looked down at it. The lynel’s blade had easily sliced through his leather bracer and cut deep into his arm. More blood. He clapped his hand over the gash, but struggled to keep any more of the cursed liquid from spilling out. One thought raced over and over in his mind: make it stop or they’ll come! And he muttered, “I can’t stop it. I can’t… I have to stop this…or they won’t stop coming…” He pressed his hand desperately to the wound, but still it spilled out. “They can’t know I’m here!” He curled over his arm as if that might somehow stop the bleeding. 

“Rulie, it’s okay! I promise,” Twilight chided gently, “I don’t have potions, but I can bandage these up for you until we get back.” 

“Let me see what I’ve got,” Sky offered, and he began rummaging through his pack. 

Hyrule had not bled this much, for this long, in months. Frantic memories and nightmares jumbled together in his mind, but he resisted them, trying to hold on to the presence of his friends. I’m here. Safe. No cult. No ashes! Just the stupid altar , he tried to reassure himself. But he could not stop shaking. They can smell it. They’ll come.

He let go and searched frantically for a potion he knew he didn’t have. Still, he rummaged, hoping he’d miscounted or had another secret secret backup. Nothing. Blood slipped out from under his fingers. He could not keep it closed! He had to do something .

“Sky, did you happen to get any from Wild before we left?” Twilight asked.

“No, but I—”

“I have to stop this! Now! Stand back!” Hyrule yelled at them. They didn’t understand, and he didn’t have time to explain. He groaned as the throbbing pain in his arm compounded. He didn’t look forward to the flames. He had barely enough magic built up for it. He reached for his sword and let it blaze, the rubies and silver hilt enhancing the red light. He held out his gored arm and lowered the flames toward the wound. He winced at the heat, but it had to be done. He’d spilled too much already, but if they washed it away fast enough–

“Stop!” Sky and Twilight shouted in tandem. 

“I’ve got plenty of potions,” Sky lied, and sat beside Hyrule, holding out a quarter-full glass. 

Hyrule tossed his sword aside and drained the bottle. The warm, clean rush of healing spread across his whole body. He was relieved by the familiar tickle of skin growing and knitting closed. Only exhaustion remained.

Hyrule handed the bottle back to Sky. “I’m sorry. I didn't mean to drink it all.”

“Don’t apologize. You needed it. We’ll give you more once we return to the camp.”

Still shaking more than he expected, he let Sky wipe the blood from his arm and hands while he caught his breath. 

“Is…is all this something we should know about?” Sky murmured to Hyrule.

Twilight crouched at his side, looking calm and relaxed but for a small frown that betrayed his anxious concern. “What’s the story, Rulie? Why are you so worried about closing up your arm?” 

They had to know. He just never wanted to… actually tell them. He felt dizzy.

Don’t overthink, just say it. Am I a Hero of Courage or not?   

“If my blood touches Ganon’s ashes… he’ll come back. He cursed me as he died. Monsters from my era can track the smell of my blood for miles.” 

Sky’s electric-blue eyes widened in shock. “As he died? He cursed you?”

Twilight sat down beside him and wrapped an arm around him. 

Sky sat down heavily and did the same.

“The statue back there? That altar at his feet is for me. For my blood to… I think we’re in an era after mine. They’ll never give up.” He looked at his hands, still stained between his fingers with blood. “People have died to help me before so I could escape the ritual. They didn’t deserve to die just for me, but we can’t let Ganon come back.” 

Twilight’s eyes shone bright with shock, anger, and sorrow. The pity hurt worst of all. 

“I…I’ve been able to take them on for a long time! Usually it’s no trouble to face them, especially if I’m alone and don’t have to worry about anyone else getting hurt. But, there’ve been… I just like being with you, with our group.”

“Faron’s light, ‘Rule,” Twilight sighed, “I’m sorry. Being hunted? I’ve seen what that’s like.” He hugged Hyrule tighter. 

The two held him closer between them. 

It felt so good to talk about it at last. Hyrule let his thoughts spill out. “And I know it won’t last, but I don’t want to go back. Not with Ganon’s monsters chasing me, keeping me away from everyone I care about, waiting for one wrong move too many. I just hope someone can stop him quickly when it happens. Maybe you all can come to my era, and stop him after I’m g–” 

“Rulie!” Sky growled, “Don’t say that! You’re not going to slip up. We won’t let that happen. I swear it. We’ll always have your back.”

Twilight jumped in too. “There’s no way they’ll win. You’re too tough, Traveler.”

“But it’s only a matter of time! I’m going to slip up again! And this time there won’t be a spell or a rescue or a portal to escape.” Hyrule took a shuddering breath and clutched Twilight’s arm. “I can’t keep running forever.”

“Rulie, we’ll always have your back, curse or not,” Sky said quietly. 

“We can figure this out. I’ve broken curses before.” Twilight’s deep voice reverberated in his hair. “It wasn’t easy, but you’ve got a lot of us on your side. Din, I’d bet a hundred rupees Four figures something out within a week. The kid’s got quite a mind.”

Hyrule relaxed and smiled a little at the flood of ideas. Maybe. Just maybe. Four took puzzles personally . Could he really find a way to break the curse?

Sky squeezed his shoulder. “And we can ask all our Zeldas too. You know, I dont think it’s just the Shadow that brought us together. I believe Hylia is guiding us. She wants us to work together. Perhaps this is one more reason. And we’ll do everything we can, here and now, while we’re together.”

“And long after.” Twilight’s whisper was barely audible, but he’d curled his head down closer, burying his face in the Traveler’s hair. 

“Thank you,” Hyrule whispered back. A smile warmed his cheeks. Finally sharing his curse felt like dropping a heavy pack at the end of a long trek, and he breathed deeply. What chance did Ganon’s spell have against the will of such heroes? For this moment, the curse didn’t matter at all. He was safe, and surrounded by the best family he’d ever known. For the first time in ages, he felt a clear spring of hope in his spirit.  

They sat a long time, resting together in the light of Twilight’s lantern, keeping each other warm in the cold room.  

“Alright, unless we plan to stay the night here and keep everyone else worried sick, we’d better find out where this key goes.” Twilight said. Clouds of dust filled the air and he brushed off and collected his items.

Hyrule and Sky joined him. 

Part 3: CLEAR 

The third door looked simple, and when they stepped through, nothing stirred in the light of Twilight’s lantern. No treasure gleamed. Only a stone stairway far ahead leading up to a door. 

“No treasure?” Twilight looked around. 

“There!” Sky and Hyrule pointed in the same direction.

Cracks riddled the wall to the left. Twilight barked a laugh and held out a hand to Sky. The knight passed him a bomb, and soon the wall burst into rubble, tiny stones rolling past their feet. 

They ran through the dust to see.

“By Hylia,” Sky gasped.

The room sparkled as the lantern’s humble glow reflected a thousand different directions over the gold and jewels piled on the ground. Gems snatched the faint lamplight and reflected it back tenfold in their brilliant hues.  

“They’re going to be so jealous,” Hyrule said breathlessly. “How much do you think we can fit in our pouches?”

“Let’s find out,” Twilight answered.

Once the large key opened the last door, they passed from the cramped cave stairway and hurried out into the fresh night air. Stars filled the sky, the storm just a dark line on the horizon.  They stood near the top of the same steep hill they’d entered. 

Not far beyond the base of the hill, the campfire glowed between the trees. They must have saved or restarted the fire somehow. 

Sky looked thoughtfully at the small light below.

“Hyrule, do any of them know? I only ask because I can keep a secret here and there, but I’m not the best at keeping track of who knows and who doesn’t.” Sky smiled a little self-consciously, and palmed the hair at the nape of his neck.

“I haven’t told anyone, but Legend probably figured out some of it. He always slips me extra potions.”

“We can sit on this for a while, if you need time. Nothing new for me,” Twilight barked a laugh. 

“No, I want to tell them.” Hyrule said. I won’t keep running alone. “Let’s get it over with. We’ve got a lot to explain, hopefully before Time gives us his stink-eye.” 

Twilight laughed before turning into his wolf form. Hyrule followed him down the hill toward the light ahead.

THE END-ish

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hyrule & Sky (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Twilight (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Time (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Warriors (Linked Universe), Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Four & Wind (Linked Universe) Characters: Hyrule (Linked Universe), Twilight (Linked Universe), Sky (Linked Universe), Time (Linked Universe), Legend (Linked Universe), Warriors (Linked Universe), Wind (Linked Universe), Four (Linked Universe), Wild (Linked Universe) Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Hyrule (Linked Universe) Has a Blood Curse, Blood and Injury, Human Sacrifice

[batrogers]

Summary:

The Chain appears somewhere that on Wild's slate says they should be in the Gerudo Desert, but this is anything but. There's barely any light, the only civilization is Yiga-built, and the only landmarks they can see in the darkness are odd white lights, orange orbs, and, far far away to the North the bottom end of a blue Sheikah tower Wild knows. But what are they here for, and what can they even do in a place like this? They only have two places that look like anything permanent and real, made by people not traitors to Hyrule, and no idea what lies between them and it… But without trying something, they have no way out.

Rated E for graphic violence and temporary character death (eg. fairy use.) Angst, Whump, interpersonal conflict, Blood Curse reveal.

CNTW because I never know how to tag temporary character deaths that are prominent but not permanent or the whole point of the fic.

This is predominantly an epic-fight kind of fic, the Chain dealing with Tears monsters while Wild has no ability to help them navigate a pre-Upheaval Depths environment.

[smilesrobotlover]

Ok so before I go to bed cuz I wanna distract myself from the pain heres a ramble

I like to consider that Hyrule is pretty timid and shy around people he doesn’t know in LU. He just prefers to keep to himself and to have things quiet and private. However when he gets to know people more and he’s more comfortable with them, that’s when his true personality comes out. He’s sassy and witty and teases a lot, he’s like a completely different person when he’s around people he’s comfortable with. The true introvert experience

[andsomedaykindness]

one of my favorite things i've seen in a few lu fics is when the chain finds out about hyrule's blood curse and sky is like "oh goddess oh fuck" because of his own curse trauma...

[acetolightning]

So Hyrule having the blood curse but also being susceptible to Gabon’s influence. If Ganon is revived, much like the monsters that can be controlled by him, he can control Hyrule.

Imagine, the King of Darkness controlling the Hero of Courage, who also has fairy blood and the whole Triforce. Also the hero having magic isn’t something that he would complain about.

The only hero that managed to kill him was now under evil’s control. Having to fight a fairy with power close to that of a Great Fairy, with destructive magic and the soul of courage isn’t someone that anyone wants to do, nevertheless the other heroes.

[pocketramblr]

i cannot believe you people voted this man as both the most tragic backstory and ending. this guy. least tragic linky boy. are yall kidding me.

[factorialsfandoms]

Is There Anybody Out There?

Not what I was going to write for Whumptober today but, hey, blood curse plus Hyrule meeting the Chain can totally work for ‘why did you save me?’ and ‘rope burns’, right? Well I hope so as that’s what I’m writing.

CW: serious character injury, curse, blood, body horror

Link hangs, by the wrist, above an urn. Or, it was an urn; the urn is still there, he suspects, but now a hideous being grows from it. His flesh has been torn open by the monsters chanting all around, and his blood drips down, landing in the ashes and upon the creature itself.

He has been hanging, dying, for what seems like days, but may only be moments, his sense of time lost to blood loss and the head wound that lead to his capture. Still he struggles, tearing apart his wrists in the ill-made rope, ripping his shoulders from their sockets and desperately trying to escape.

It is not even about survival any more, not for him; with every drop of blood, the malformed creature grows a little less hideous. What had begun as just a pool of blood in a slightly different shade became a lump of flesh and now there is a skull upon a skinless neck, the first few chunks of brain tissue beginning to form within it. There are stubs from the shoulders, where arms will soon come. There is a pelvis all intact, and the first knitting flesh of thighs.

Still Link's blood pours from him and into the ashes - onto the creature now. He should have run out long ago, and yet something keeps him haemoraging. His magic? Their own? A curse on this location reacting to one in his blood? He does not know, all he knows is that it is too much.

Against the odds he sobs again. Consciousness comes in waves, but still it comes.

/Please/ he begs in his mind, too weak to speak, too weak to even fight. /Please, please/.

He cannot remember the other words he needs, but still he begs it of anyone or anything that will listen - not for salvation, but just that his failure will not damn his world. That somehow he will die before this is complete, that the ritual will fail, or any similar thing.

Maybe if he soaks enough blood into the ropes instead it will? He pulls his arms again, mimicking an escape attempt. The hemp digs deeper into his wrists, ripping a little more blistered and angry skin from the friction burns. Blood drips from his wrists, his arms, his gut. Still he begs for mercy, if not for himself, then for Hyrule.

He passes out again.

He wakes again.

It is louder now, but it does not sound like the monotonous chanting, or even cheers of joy.

With failing vision he looks again upon the incubating form; about half the brain seems finished, while muscle tissue is crawling up from the neck and beginning to form a jaw.

A flash of steel, a glint of fire, the loud rocking of a fight.

But who would fight is not for him? A desperate last hurrah by the Castle Guard? The Princess, wielding light between long fingers? The Queen, with bow in hand?

Link cannot tell, he can barely even see - only light gets through to him now - but he turns his face towards the fighting nonetheless, straining to do the impossible as he has always done.

A voice yells something - not a scream, panicked, yes, but not frightened - something about /movement/.

Terrified he swings back to the half-formed creature his blood still pours in to; he does not see anything from it as his vision blacks once more.

Black, and then white, as arms wrap around him and agony peaks once more.

Something is picking at the ropes on his hands, the ropes in which he has been trying to store his blood. Did the monsters notice? Are they finally taking the ropes away, squeezing the blood of them onto their half-formed master? Link is not strong enough to move even without them keeping him in place, not any more.

He tries to struggle, he tries to fight them away, but what can he do? There's a voice in his ear saying impossible things, things to which he refuses to listen, instead he fights and fights and fights fight /fight/!

The dark must sweep him away again, for one moment he is struggling, and the next he has warmth at his back and ground beneath his feet. Something is keeping his head upright, something else is slapping his cheeks again and again and again and /again/.

He wants it to stop. The sting is nothing next to everything else, and yet it serves no purpose at all.

The something behind him is shaking.

The something in front of him hits his cheek again.

Link tries to tell it to stop, eyelids opening a fraction but nothing sinking in. Panicked voiced calm slightly, and there's something at his lips.

Poison?

Why poison? Don't they need more of his blood? He's reasonably sure resurrecting Ganon takes killing him.

When he does nothing, a something forces his head back. Then there's something being dripped into his mouth - poison or no, it is sweet, and his body craves it. Link swallows the drops quickly, ignorant of how his support sags a little as he keens for more. He is not above begging; he is too far gone for speech.

After a moment, more of the poison is put to his lips. Hungrily Link drinks, almost choking in his desperation. Something warm swells in him, and behind him, too; there's pressure on his head, but it is not hurting, and so he ignores it again.

Too soon, the poison is gone. He understands the apology in the voice talking to him now, but not the words themselves. Neither does he understand what the apology is for, unless it is for how the poison seemed to have run out.

There’s speaking again - human speaking - all of it far too fast and frantic and going over his head. The sounds of fighting have died down, and now there are /too many/ voices.

One of the voices addresses him again; Hyrule’s mind is too scattered to understand it. If the aches want to do something different to him, then he is powerless to resist now, the poison having seeped cold paralysis into his bones. Paralysis, or is it just lethargy? He cannot tell.

When the voices do not receive their answer, the warmth at his back shifts instead.

Link moves with it.

This time, as he passes out, he screams.

-----------------------------------------------

Link wakes up warm, the haze in his mind only contributed to by the forming headache. Still it is duller than he would expect, given the weakness in his limbs that reeks of blood loss.

He tries to move his arms, only to find it more exhausting than he has strength for. Instead he lets his head flop to the side, slowly opening his eyes.

Around him is a cave, and beside him is a fire. It is a familiar looking cave - a safe cave - one he has sheltered in before. He cannot see outside with the direction he chose to turn, but he can smell rain outside.

Good, that’s... That’s good.

The area desperately needs the rain, rain to wash away its sins and feed new life...

New Life.

Ganon reborn.

In a moment Link is on his knees, scrambling about for his sword. He... He can’t do this, he /can’t/, but he has to anyway. Ganon, Ganon... His blood was given to Ganon, he has to stop him, where is his sword, where is it?!

Hands grab at him, and he fights back. He fights and fights and no matter what he does, they remain gentle with him. They pull him to a warm chest, tuck his hands where he cannot access them, cup his head and protect his back.

Trapped, but not... Not /trapped/, just trapped.

“I need it,” he manages to bubble out on a shattered throat. “I- I need it, where is it?”

“What do you need?” a voice asks.

Link freezes.

The voice is unfamiliar. So were the blankets he woke up in. So are the arms, and the seven faces he sees as he looks around now.

So is the eight face, up above him.

“Ganon-” Link’s voice catches, and his mind does too. “My sword. You need to run, before he hurts you - I need my sword. Need to... Need to stop him.”

Even held up, Link can feel himself sway.

A second person comes forward - wearing black, and white, a gambeson and a loose tunic above, with only a single eye. He rests a hand on Link’s arm, eye piercing into him.

“It’s alright,” gambeson says, and it isn’t, but what else can Link say. “We stopped the ritual, and burnt everything that was there. It’s alright.”

“My sword-” he asks again, because nothing makes sense, but he /needs/ it. Now he thinks, all of his things were taken from him; he tries to sit up again. If the monsters get their hands of some of that...

“Hush down,” the man holding him says, and there is chain mail beneath this one’s tunic. “We found your things; our Smithy is just checking it all over, and fixing it up.”

“But-”

“You’re in no state to fight, not after something like that,” the arms around him squeeze for a moment. Something in Link’s soul feels safe at the touch. “Didn’t really expect you to be up just yet.”

'Didn’t expect you to survive’ is not said, but even Link can hear it there.

The longer he is held, and the longer he is with these people, somehow the safer he feels. It is counter to everything he knows, and yet, and yet, something deep in his soul radiates happiness to be near them.

Confused, he mumbles again about needing his sword.

The person holding him sighs, and shuffles, and promises that Hyrule will get it back just as soon as he’s well enough to hold it.

Given how heavy he feels, he supposes that’s fair.

Horrible, terrifying, uncomfortable, but fair.

Someone else appears in his vision - a teenager covered in scars - and he’s holding a bowl warm enough to be steaming, even in this room.

“Hey,” he says. “I bought you food. You think you can eat? It’s just broth.”

He calls it just broth, and yet it smells more flavoured than anything that Link has ever before seen. It comes with some water, and a cup of tea, and a potion, and Link wishes he had the strength to take it.

The scarred boy seems to notice, because he grins, takes a bit of each himself, then bring the water up for Link to drink.

Feeling miserable and pathetic Link none the less swallows, even as the man holding him tells him he’s doing well, that’s he’s proud of him.

For what? Being utterly helpless and surrounded by strangers and letting them pour things down his throat? It is nothing worth praising - none of Link’s efforts ever are. He almost got everyone killed, he was caught, and his blood had Ganon more than half returned, and nothing he did ever mattered in the end.

Still he could not say anything, for as soon as the water was taken away, it was replaced by the warm broth. Too caught up in his confusion, Link regrettably barely tasted it as spoon after spoon was fed to him.

And then the potion, and then the tea, and despite not doing anything, Link was exhausted.

The man holding him seemed to realise it, for when the scarred boy reached to his belt, he gestured him away.

“Not now, Champion,” his words were not unkind. “Just get started on dinner, no need to overwhelm him.”

If he could find the strength, Link would laugh - he is already, most definitely, overwhelmed.

“Sure, Captain,” scars - Champion - replies easily, humming to himself as he tucks his things away. “Good to see you up, Link. Hope you feel better soon.”

The use of his name startles Link, but not as much as it could have; everyone knows about his blood curse by now, so who else would have been in the situation? And the monsters had been chanting it enough. He would have been more surprised if they did not know, to be honest.

“Will you manage here?” the man in the gambeson asks; Link had forgotten about him.

“We’ll be fine,” the man holding him - the Captain - says. “You go rest your knees, Old Man.”

He does seem older than the rest, Link supposes, but not properly old, not like the old men he knows. The man says something to much the same effect, but goes to sit with the rest nonetheless.

After a few minutes, the Captain sighs, “let’s get you back to bed, then.”

Something feels wrong about that; as he is moved, Link grabs onto the Captain’s clothes, and tries to push himself deeper into his chest.

To his credit, the man stops moving quickly, reaching his arms back and protectively around, “no?”

Link nods in agreement to the disagreement.

Another sigh, though this one is exasperated and fond, not exhausted. “How about I lie down with you?”

Link has no idea if that’s a good idea or not, but he lets it happen. Just so long as nobody lets go of him. The movement makes the dizziness rear up and ugly, and nearly has the broth coming back up.

Somehow, Link keeps it down.

Soon enough he’s tucked back under blankets softer than he has ever known, and against a chest hard with armour, but warm, and covered in something soft.

“How are you feeling?” the Captain asks of him.

“Dizzy,” Link manages to mumble out, having worked that out recently. “Hurts.”

“Where hurts?” the question is blunt, but the tone is gentle; that’s fine, fewer words make it easier for Link to process anyway.

The question anyway; everywhere hurts, and so he just begins listing every body part he can focus on and name.

Sometime around his kidneys, he’s hushed with a quiet, “everything, then?”

Link nods, and regrets it; a hand comes up to check his forehead.

“We seem to have avoided any infection. For now, at least.” The Captain hums to himself. “There’s a few hours until your bandages need changing; get some rest. It will help more than anything I can do for you.”

There’s pain in the Captain’s voice as he admits his helplessness. Link understands that - intimately. To try everything you know, and everything you can think of, and still all there is to do is let nature take its course.

Sometimes it is reassuring, but most often it is terrifying.

But at least Link can feel the potion at work, the small itch where it knits together flesh, and the pooling warmth where it continues to try replace his blood. The warmth is comforting, even as the situation is strange.

And yet, it is that comfort he understands the least. Who would come after him, if not ordered to? And they seem far too willing and gentle with him to have been ordered, and they are nobody he has met before who might feel a debt for services done. Instead they are just... Helping.

And Link does not understand why.

“Why did you save me?” his voice is even frailer with the question, not even supposed to have been asked.

The Captain looks confused a moment, before giving him a gentle smile even as the arms around him hold on desperately tight, “why wouldn’t I?”

It is... Exactly the response that Link has given a hundred times to a hundred people before, one he knows intimately in the depths of his spirit, and yet never expected to hear. It is the words he says to mothers whose children he returns, to old men whose homes he defends, to stranded military units he raises hell to save, words that hold nothing but sincerity in them.

“But-” Link tries to argue, he does, for his own words - especially not those ones - should never be directed at him.

Unable to do it, he instead bursts into tears.

[emp-echoes]

In order to save Twilight… maybe Hyrule needs to use his blood to help resurrect Twilight? If it can bring Ganon back from the dead… surely it can save Twilight…

[astral-catastrophe]

have part of a wip with no context

“Hyrule can fend for himself,” Time hummed from where he sat in front of the fire, gazing blankly at the stars. “We all should know that much by now.”

“I know,” Sky began. “But I still think that this wasn’t the best-“ 

Sky was interrupted by the rustling of blankets as a drowsy Hyrule sat up on his bedroll, hair messy as he squinted at the group. “So you guys sure enjoy talking about me while I’m asleep, huh?” Asked the traveler, tone scathing and eyes blazing with a quiet fury as he fixed the Hero of the Wilds with a harsh glare. “Funny how a conversation about me doesn’t actually include any of my own input.” 

[la-sera]

I Read too much LU Febuwhump

So, can I draw a whump?

This just happens to match the Febuwhump 2024 prompt day 19: Please don't.

Characters: Legend and Hyrule.

WARNING

TW blood, knife, human sacrifice

I'm

warning

you

Just consider this a nightmare.

Why I like making Hyrule apologize and Legend cry..?

[science-lings]

Not me waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night (6 am) with another LU AU idea (CHB demigods but hylian flavored) given to me but I’m too tired to write it down so who knows if I’ll still remember it after my next batch of sleepies

[needfantasticstories]

One of my Fav fanfics ever:

Hyrule’s blood curse, the Hyrule-centric aftermath, a dynamic version of Gannon and delicious dialogue, this has it all! Plus, a sequel by another writer in the links at the bottom! Both equal an excellent angsty/Whump read.

[enjolras-out]

Hyrule doesn’t dare hope he’ll survive the night. And Sky finds himself unexpectedly fighting a very personal battle.

Final part of Blood Ritual!

[smilesrobotlover]

blood for the ask thing

“Your… your blood,” the red man muttered, staring at Hyrule who was held up by the red man’s clones,” You can bring him back… your blood can bring him back.”

Hyrule tried to break free from the strong grip on him, but he was punched in the gut, causing him to fall to the ground.

“If I can bring him back,” the red man started, “if I go back with our god… I’ll be labeled a hero.”