#legend and wild as a two man army

[pebre-con-aji]

you know that trope where a person has a knife/weapon strapped to the thigh under a skirt?

and the other trope, a person with more hidden weapons on them than they could possibly carry?

now, imagine this situation:

the chain in a formal event, they leave their things behind and the one item they have on hand in Wild's slate. Also, Legend is wearing a dress.

suddenly they get attacked but have no weapons, except for Legend, who takes one big ass dagger from under his skirt, two combat knives, probably poisoned throwing blades, etc.

badassery ensues

[tashacee]

pondering what a fic would look like if the 'wild is stuck in aspect form' idea was taken to its natural extreme: every character with a transformation is stuck in it.

wild is in aspect form of course, twilight is stuck as wolfie, hyrule is stuck as a fairy, legend is in bunny form. four i think would be picori size, when they split and work together they kinda look like pikmin. time is stuck in one of his masked forms, i think he's a grizzled deku scrub with one eye that doesn't glow that has a big gash through it.

wind, sky, and warriors don't have transformations that come to mind, so itd just be a very exasperated warriors trying to coordinate a group consisting of a blind man, a disturbingly skilled child, two non-hylian humanoids, two very very small humanoids, and two straight up animals that wars isn't convinced are fully sentient.

wind is having lots of fun with all the animals about. sky thought fi was fucking with him when they first met four, but by the time they meet cat man wild hes like "man the races sure do evolve in the future." warriors is just like "really, this is what hylia sends me, a tree man and a straight up rabbit?"

most if not all of the transformed are unable to talk, leaving all of them in the state of "how do i tell my cool non-hylian friends im just a normal hylian." as soon as one of them reveals it everyone else does, leaving the transformees shocked, sky and wind laughing hysterically, and wars like "You're telling me I've been wrangling fairies and cat men and i could have had an army of normal hylians this whole time."

he is so, so tired.

👀👀👀👀 you have INSPIRED me

[bokettochild]

Febuwhump Day 5 - Rope Burn

Well this took forever! I actualy finished last ight but then I wasn't sure if I hated it or not, so I had to sleep on it. If you see any typos, no you do not.

Wordcount: 9,300

Rating: Teen

Summary: After Twilight reveals some information about his past, Four tries to use it as a learning opportunity for all of them. It does not go as expected.

-

  “There is no way a military leader was that incompetent.”  

  Wild pauses in his story, much to Wind’s frustration, because he really did want to hear the end of it, which he’s about to say, only the vet’s voice raises, a smirk touching the other’s face as he settles down at the fire with the rest of them after coming back from doing rounds. “Sounds about right to me.”  

  “Too competent,” Warriors challenges, dropping his head to thoroughly tousle his hair, “half my men couldn’t do that.” That’s fair, Wind decides, he remembers the captain’s men as all being somewhat... stupid. 

  The champion stares at them, openly astounded. “How,” he begins, glancing between the vet and captain “are your kingdoms still standing? If the leaders of your defenses are less capable than Master I-killed-myself-on-accident-with-my-own-power Kohga?” 

  “Spoilers!” That’s how the story ends? Wild had only just begun to get to the part where he fought Kohga, but now the ending has been well and truly ruined! Although, it seems they’re getting derailed, so it’s quite likely he won’t even get to hear said ending, considering the champion is too busy looking between captain and veteran for answers. 

  The vet just snorts, unknowing of what he’s missed, and of Wind’s ire, and simply crossing his legs and focusing on the fire. “Where do you think I got the title of veteran? I don’t just sit on my fanny all day, champ.” 

  When the champion’s eyes turn to Warriors, the captain just shakes his head. “I have no clue.” It‘s more sigh than anything, as though the captain’s long since given up hopes for competency among his people. “I’d say Impa, but even she can’t hold the country together by herself, so I’m assuming it’s pure dumb luck.” 

  Across camp, Sky, who’d been the first one to say anything after the champion’s insane story, stares. “You’re saying I brought down the knights of Skyloft just so they could devolve into idiotic half-competent protectors of the country and leave kids to be the ones to save the world?” It’s harsh, but it’s fair as well, although not everyone seems to think so. Wind can’t say anything on the matter though because the closest to military groups they have in his world are pirates, and pirates don’t exactly serve the people. 

  The group as a whole gives each other considering looks, although Legend and Warriors are too busy talking with their eyes- Legend raising a brow and Warriors sighing, rolling his own eyes and earning a smirk in answer- to really care about what everyone else thinks. He thinks Legend asked a question, but how either of them can read each other that well, considering how rarely they even interact, he’s not sure.  

  “The knights in my era are half-competent,” Four assures, “easily manipulated by magic, but they’re just people, so I can’t really blame them. They’re good at their work though.” 

  “Lucky,” Legend scoffs. 

  Time also seems confident in the soldiers of his era, but Twilight adds that his own are cowards and pathetic, so it seems they’re split. Wind, Wild, and Hyrule can’t add anything, due to the lack of military forces in their eras, the soldier is in agreement with their farm boys on the idiocy of his own people, and only their first two and the old man seem to have any faith whatsoever in those set to guard their era. He wonders if maybe there was a decline, after one of them, that led to the army of Hyrule falling, but he doesn’t ask, since it’s unlikely they can say for sure anyway. 

  “How often do you interact with knights though?” Sky challenges, glancing between them. Most haven’t been around them often, but those who’ve got only ill to say all scoff, almost simultaneously, which startles them as much as it does the rest of the group. 

  “I live with them,” the captain starts slowly, glancing between Twilight and Legend with a curious half-smile as though he’s actively trying to figure out what on earth could tie them to the people whom they so frequently scorn. “Spent the last five or six years in the army.” 

  The vet’s a bit more hesitant with his answer, staring between them warily, guarded. “My sister is a knight commander, and our family has ties with the army, so I end up around them a lot more than I’d like, even when they aren’t actively hunting me down.” And Wind wants to stop the conversation there and ask about the fact that Legend apparently has a family and also a reason for the army to be up his ass about something, but he doesn’t get a chance because once more, someone else speaks first. 

  “I grew up on a military base,” Twilight snorts, “trust me, soldiers are as dumb as rocks.” 

  And well, Legend having a family isn’t that crazy in comparison to that. 

  Warriors starts, staring at the rancher, blinking slowly as though still trying to process the words of the other. “I’m sorry- you what?” 

  “I thought you grew up in Ordon?” Wild questions, turning to his mentor, confusion on clear display. 

  Yeah, Wind has a feeling that Wild’s story is well and truly over now, but he supposes it’s worth it. Learning something about their rancher is, he supposes, better than hearing the rest of the story the cook had already spoiled the ending too, especially as the limit of their knowledge about the rancher at this point is that he’s from Ordon, used to work as a ranch hand, and is descended from Time and Malon somehow. The fact that he’s a hero goes without saying, but the ranch hand nearly never shares anything about himself, even though he seems to love talking about his hometown and all the people in it, to the point where some of them feel they know the village and its residents already, despite still not having been there yet. 

  Yet, the rancher is grinning as he leans back, the sprig of hylian rice between his teeth bouncing some as he flashes a wolfish grin at them. “Well, yeah, sort of.” 

  “Sort of?” Time nudges his pup, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Their leader isn’t keen on them being cryptic with him, even though he frequently does so himself. The hypocrite. “Explain.” 

  The rancher chuckles, a nervous little thing, but obediently pulls himself up, resting his weight over his knees as he looks around the fire at all of them, eyes glinting slightly. “Well, y’see, I a’tually grew up in a citadel on the edge of Hyrule.” 

  Warriors jaw drops so fast. “Holy Hylia you’re a military brat.” 

  He can’t help it; he bursts into laughter. Yes, objectively, it’s funny to see Warriors so shocked, but from an outsider's perspective it is so, so much funnier because he’s met Warriors parents and sisters, and he’s seen for himself the proof that the captain is anything but the sissy city boy Twilight likes to accuse him of being. No, the captain was born in Hebra, so far out from cities that he thought Kakariko was huge. Meanwhile, it turns out their “country boy” actually grew up in a military base? Not the country? It turns out Twilight is the military brat and Warriors was the hill-billy? How the turn tables have turned! 

  The rest of the heroes stare at him, confused, but the captain just rolls blue eyes, pinching the tip of his ear to make him shut up. “Ignore him.” 

  Twilight’s dark gaze flicks between them, but apparently, he determines to listen to the captain for once. “Right, so, my dad was a’tually a knight from some family o’ knights or summat, an’ my mom comes from desert folk, so I grew up on the border studyin’ with other knights’ kids to take on our fathers’ duties ’n protect Hyrule one day.” 

  The stares are very, very evident by now, although Legend’s in particular is strangely intense, studying the other with his mouth half open like he’s got a question about the rancher’s words.  

 Broad shoulders shrug, a bit awkward as the rancher grins at them. “My friends growin’ up were dumber’n rocks, an’ every knight I’ve met since is the same, so yeah. Knights ‘re stupid.” 

  “Just a question,” and it seems the vet decided to actually ask whatever’s in his head, “but your knight family, they Hyrulian Knights?” 

  “Yeah?” 

  The vet nods, slowly, lips pursed like he’s sucking on a lemon. “Oh.” 

 “Why?” 

  A shake of pink hair, eyes turning back to the fire. “Same hat is all.” 

  “You too?” 

  “Born and raised, but never followed. Your folks drag you to Snowpeak every winter too?” 

  The rancher shakes his head. “Naw, yeti’s took the place over some time ago. I’d heard it used to be ours though, never thought much of it though. You’ve been?” 

 “Yeah.” 

  “Hold up,” Watrriors interrupts the, frankly unexpected, moment between their rancher and vet to stare between both of them “You’re both military brats, you both hate soldiers, and you both neglected to say anything until freaking now? Also, Hyrulian Knights? You’re talking about the fabled family that sealed back Ganon here, right? Produced the Savior of Labrynna, may or may not be the family of the Hero of Time?” That has their old man looking up, startled, for a moment. It’s only a moment though, because that one wide eye promptly shoots down to Twilight and then, as though on second thought, Legend too, Time’s stare growing ever more startled and shaken, ears twitching like they used too when he was particularly confused or trying to work something out in his head. 

  Legend snorts. “Yes.” 

  “Heads up,” Hyrule chuckles, “Legend is the Hero of Labrynna, so keep your hero worship at a minimum there, Wars.” 

  He thinks that the captain’s face flickers through all five stages of grief for a moment there before the man gets up and simply...walks away, leaving Hyrule rocking in his seat from laughter and Sky looking thoroughly befuddled. “Is he okay?” 

  “Big hero worship,” Wind says, like the snitch he is. He’s no traitor in most senses, but if he can give Warriors a little grief, tease him a bit, he will. He’s fine with sharing some of the things he’d learned under the care of the other. “Apparently he views that guy like I did with Time, wanted to be like him and everything.” 

  Rather than flush or falter, Legend’s lemon-sucking face gets even more pronounced. “Why?” 

  “Because apparently the stories all say you were such an inspiring leader to Labrynna’s army that soldiers and generals emulated both your tactics and speeches for decades after Ganon’s defeat.” It’s amazing to watch the vet’s entire world-view shatter at the words, the man apparently not sure if he should look off towards their captain who’s flopped on his bedroll to contemplate his whole life all over again or down at the ground to contemplate his own. Like the problem child he usually chooses not to be, Wind decides to make it worse. “His Hyrule considers you the greatest knight that ever lived.” 

  Ringed hands bury in pink hair, violet eyes blowing wide as the other hunches over, mind clearly blown. Beside the vet, Twilight gently (and by gently, Wind means very cautiously) claps his brother’s back, his own face a bit tense. 

 Wind is loving watching this. This is better than listening to Wild explain his exploits against the Yiga! Although, he’s also curious. “Did you really grow up in a citadel, Twi?” 

  “Yeah,” a brief nod, dark eyes lingering on their malfunctioning veteran, “I only traveled up Ordon way around your age, when the citadel fell.” 

  Okay, not touching that bomb. “What was it like?” 

  His question earns a grin. “What you’d expect, I s’pose. We were monsters as kids, an’ I s’pose growin’ up military gave us a twisted view of the world. Or, rather, of what was normal any’ays.” 

  “Like how?” Sky, who grew up in a knight’s academy and seems entirely normal by what standards Wind has, asks. 

  “Our main games usually centered around pretendin’ to be knights an’ capturin’ each other or doin’ what we saw our dads doin’ most of the time.” 

  “Like?” Time prods again. 

 Twilight grins, and then falters, looking suddenly alarmed as he glances over the rest of them. “Okay, in hindsight, it was messed up.”   

  Now he really wants to know. “What did you do?”  

  The others all stare; those who aren’t, like Warriors and Legend, currently questioning their existence. Their concern is steadily growing the more Twilight falters and flushes, and Wind is now very much dying to know what sort of shenanigans the rancher used to get up to as a kid. Whatever it was, it can’t be worse than what Time used to put him through during the war, although the idea of their sweet and warm rancher being related to the gremlin he remembers from back then is now not so insane a concept anymore. 

  “Alright,” The (apparently not from Ordon) Ordonian starts at last, and Wind’s not sure if the rancher is aware that he’s moved his hand up to be toying with the vet’s hair now, a nervous sort of stroking, but the vet hasn’t snapped at him for it yet, although maybe that’s because he’s just too lost in his own head to notice, “don’t judge.” 

  “I will reserve my judgement,” Four answers, slowly, “but no promises.” 

  “I grew up on the edge of the desert, an’ most of what our folks did was hunt Gerudo thieves an’ protect traders in an’ outta the desert.” Which makes sense, but he feels like Twilight’s getting at something less than what his parents did for a living. “Nowadays, my hairs a fair bit darker, but it was purdy red back then an’ the other kids kind of figured it meant that when we played, I had to be the evil Gerudo thief, since, y’know, red hair.” 

  Ah, racism in children, now Wind sees it. Not what he was hoping for but he’s not sure what he was expecting. 

  “So,” Twilight clears his throat awkwardly, “when we played, I’d be the bad guy an’ they’d chase me down and ‘capture’ me. In hindsight, it probably was less play an’ more bullyin’ since I wasn’t too well liked at first an’ they weren’t very nice about it.” 

  “But?” Sky asks, maybe too hopefully. 

  “But,” the rancher accepts, because apparently there's something good in this after all, or at least something that makes the man smile, “part of the ‘game’ involved them tryin’ to tie me up. Unfortunately for them, I got mighty good at escapin’ bein’ tied up. I think I must’ve impressed ‘em, because they started makin’ a game of if I could escape various crazy things, an’ sometimes would ask me to help ‘em tie each other up so they could try a hand at it too.” Sharp teeth glint in a fond smile. “Got a reputation for bein’ slippery as a snake and sly as a fox, an’ t’others all started treatin’ me like some sorta genius. We became friends awful fast after.” 

  An awkward silence settles over camp after that, the rancher’s words sinking in and the rest of them processing what was said. Surprisingly, it’s Legend who breaks it, lifting his head from his own hands, apparently having decided to shelf whatever feelings he’s having, but also apparently missing the hand still tangled in his hair. “So, in other words, you earned the respect of your bullies and made their bullying into what sounds like a perfectly normal childhood game.” 

  “What sort of a childhood did you have again?” Sky deadpans. “Didn’t you start adventuring at like, eight?” 

  “And?” The vet returns, looking actually, genuinely confused as to what that has to do with anything. 

  Their chosen hero sighs, shaking his head, apparently already giving up on trying to explain the flaw in the vet’s logic. Honestly, Wind can’t see it, whatever it is, but he’s getting the impression that kids on Skyloft and kids in Hyrule have very, very different experiences.  

- 

  It’s about a week later that someone brings it up again, and surprisingly, it’s Four. 

  They’re sitting around the main room of the smithy’s house, keeping warm after spending the last day out in the middle of a strange mix of fog and rain while hunting monsters. The smithy’s parents have been very welcoming towards their guests, and all of them are savoring the chance to fully relax for the first time in a good while. Well, most of them, Legend and Hyrule don’t seem particularly capable of fully relaxing, so Four’s mother has roped them into helping her in the little garden out back, which seems to be quite to the vet’s tastes and, while foreign to Hyrule, a new experience the traveler doesn't seem keen on passing up. 

  That leaves the rest of them free in the otherwise empty house, left to their own devices while the smithy’s father attends to his work at the castle. Twilight is trying (and failing) to teach Warriors how to play chess, and Wind and Wild are busy playing with Four’s cat, Tongs, when the smithy suddenly walks into the room again after coming downstairs and addresses the rancher. “Do you think you could still escape being tied up?” 

  Time, who was sitting on the couch, looking halfway towards dozing off, suddenly starts awake again and stares, as do the rest of them. 

  “Pardon?” The rancher asks, sighing in defeat as Warriors knocks all the pieces off the chess board with an agitated scowl, signifying his disinterest in continuing to try and learn the “stupid” game. 

  “The game you mentioned,” Four reminds them, crossing the room to perch on the couch arm closest to the rancher, although why he doesn’t just sit on the couch, Wind’s not sure. “You said your friends were really impressed by your ability to escape all the time. Do you think you could still do that?” 

  Twilight shrugs, scooping up the fallen chess pieces to put back in their box, all while Warriors glares at one of the rooks like it’s personally offended him. Wind wasn’t watching close enough to know if it had or not. “I mean, I might, haven’t tried in a while. Why?” 

  The smithy kicks his feet, well off the floor, and frowns, a thoughtful frown like he’s slowly piecing his words together. “I was curious. I’ve never been good at that sort of thing, and I wanted to know if you’d be willing to show us so I could get better.” 

  “And why do you need to get better at escaping being tied up?” The captain interjects, tossing the white rook into the box with a twitch of a frown. 

  “So sure you want to ask that?” Sky snorts, moseying in from the kitchen where Four’s mother had given them free access to make tea and grab food. The face the captain makes at him is scandalized but their chosen hero just slurps his tea, staring over the rim of his cup with raised brows. 

  Wind doesn’t get the joke. He’s not sure if he wants to. 

  Four huffs, slightly red in the cheeks, but presses on. “During my adventure, I made...some mistakes. It resulted in my capture, and I couldn’t exactly escape. I don’t want that to happen again.” It’s a simple enough answer, glazing over anything and everything other than the smithy getting captured, but it still raises questions, although not the ones the smithy was likely trying to avoid. 

  “I thought you were a knight?” Warriors picks up the queen piece, not dropping it yet but not staring at it either, instead focusing his narrowed eyes on their smithy. “All soldiers are trained on what to do in the case of capture, torture, and questioning. Did you not recieve that training?” 

  It’s Twilight’s turn to shift about to stare at the captain. “How would they train that sort of thing?” 

  The captain’s face screws up, “Am I the only one who was taught this? Sky,” the man drops the queen and it goes rolling across the table, “did you or did you not receive-” 

  “No,” the chosen hero doesn’t even wait for the other to finish. “Who on earth would even interrogate us? Skyloftian knights fight monsters, not men.” A long sip follows the words before Sky frowns and turns to look down at the seated soldier. “Do they seriously teach you about torture?” 

  “Yes?” Warriors glances around, but all of them look back at him with confusion. “All common soldiers learn this? You have to in order to progress through the ranks?” 

  “Not ringing a bell,” Time deadpans, staring at the captain with both eyes. 

  Warriors blinks, like the idea that his experience with knighthood not being universal is, in fact, a surprise to him. Wind can’t blame him though, considering based off of what he knows about the other, Warriors had gone through most of his experiences beside dozens of other young men, including his own childhood friends, in order to reach the rank he was at before the war started and he’d been suddenly promoted to captain. 

  “Well,” Four shifts, crossing his legs, “that’s a can of worms to be addressed later, but back to my question: Twilight, can you teach me escape tricks?” 

  “Correction,” Time sits up and turns around, eyes lingering on the captain a moment more before turning on his pup, “Twilight, Warriors, would both of you two be willing to help the rest of us learn escape methods and-” a vague hand motion is made at the soldier, “-whatever sort of training you received that all the rest of the knights here haven’t.” 

  The request seems to make the captain extremely uncomfortable and Wind doesn't miss the way royal blue eyes dart to him, hesitant. “Not the torture part.” 

  “What does that entail?” Sky asks, stare sharp and heavy in ways the man usually never is. 

  “Doesn’t matter,” Warriors is already moving to stand, leaving Twilight to clean up the rest of their game by himself. “I’m not teaching that to kids.” 

 “I am not a child!” It feels like the thousandth time he’s said that, but the look in the captain’s eyes.... yeah, he’ll let the man have this one. He's not sure he wants to see what it is that Warriors is trying to protect them from, especially after he saw everything that happened to the man during the war. 

  - 

  They have to recruit Legend and Hyrule from the garden, which Four does, and in the meantime Wind produces a length of rope for them to use for the exercise. The captain and Twilight are speaking in hushed whispers in the corner when Four returns with the others, and Legend shoots them a curious look as he heads over to where Wind is uncoiling all the rope he had in his bag. 

  “What’s going on?” 

  “Training exercise.” He answers, handing off the rope to the vet, who starts slightly at the contact but then helps him in re-coiling the loose chord.  

  “Why is the captain so tense?” 

  Those words make him look up, staring for a moment. Twilight seems perfectly at ease, but their soldier’s shoulders are tense, jaw set in a way he usually only has during a battle or shortly after one. Even the captain’s hands are still; devoid of their typical tremor, and if that’s not a sign to make him worry, he’s not sure what is. That said, he’s a bit surprised Legend had picked up on that. “I think he’s got bad memories of doing this before, he was pretty firm with Time about what he was and wasn’t willing to teach us.” 

  “Which is?” 

  “What to do if you’re captured or otherwise held against your will,” Time seems to materialize out of nowhere to answer the question, making Legend start slightly and scowl at the man. “Apparently most knights are trained to handle it, and I think you boys could benefit from having that knowledge too.” 

  “Yeah,” Legend snips, “because the shadow is totally gonna tie us to a chair and demand to know all our secrets.” 

  The conversation in the corner breaks off, Warriors running both hands through his hair in an agitated way while Twilight moves over to join the rest of them. “Maybe not, but the shadow ain’t the only threat out there, vet. You know that.” 

  The point is conceded, and the rest of them move in close, following their rancher’s example and watching as the man settles down into a kitchen chair Four had provided for their use. Twilight is not the one to start though, instead \turning his own attention, and thus the others do as well, towards the captain, who’s looking a little less like his normal self. It takes a moment, but Wind finally decides it’s the mess the man’s hair is in, that and the way all his emotions seem to have been wiped away cleanly as he stalks towards where the rancher is sitting.  

 “Twilight has agreed to show you all how to handle this, meanwhile, as I have the training, I will be instructing.” His breathing is off. “In some cases- most actually, the likelihood of being captured and watched by a large group is rare. Most of you don’t look like a major threat and few of you have a rank worth exploiting by your enemies, so your chances of being captured and tortured are low. The chances of questioning is also low, although possible, but considering how well you all keep your own secrets, I don’t think I have to teach you how to keep your mouths shut.” There’s the slightest quirk of a smile at that, and a few smile back. 

  Wind doesn’t. Wind is too busy watching the way too-steady hands reach out to take the rope Legend is still holding. 

  “I don’t need to teach you all how to watch the enemy, or how to be cautious, sneaky, how to move about without being seen- you know these things already.” The rope snaps in what he knows is a purposeful motion by the soldier to unsettle them, and that, if anything, is assurance that Warriors is still in there, and not entirely overwhelmed. Come to think of it, he may even be purposefully throwing them off with his behavior and appearance in order to better convey what it’s like to be held captive by a stranger. The thought actually makes him start and stare, watching closely. The hand thing can’t be faked, so maybe there’s some truth to the terrifying mask the captain is pulling; cold, harsh, calculating and seeking a reaction, but he genuinely hopes most of it really is just put on. “But how do you escape binds of different kinds? How do you quickly turn the tables to take yourself from prisoner to captor?” A twist of the hands and Warriors has made knot dangerously close to a noose. “Let’s try that, shall we?” 

  At his side, Legend tenses, eyes fixed on the captain as the man wraps the noose quickly around one of Twilight’s wrists, the rancher allowing himself to be manipulated as needed for the time being while Warriors twists and pulls and ties the rope this way and that. It's genuinely impressive, the kinds of knots and the effort put into them, far more than most enemies are likely to bother using, but the man still uses them, calling their attention to the different kinds and showing how some give way with a tug and others tighten, informing them that feeling the sort of knot used can be a huge step in escaping it, as it provides clues on how to manipulate your bindings to your own will. 

  Once the captain is finished, Twilight’s wrists and ankles are both quite effectively restrained, the rancher sitting quietly as he allows the rest of them to look over the bonds and Warriors to explain further about why certain knots are used and which ones to be on the lookout for. They are allowed to touch, encouraged even, to see how the rope feels, because- as the captain instructs them, clipped and cold- the likelihood of being granted sight is very low indeed when held captive. 

  “Everyone got all that?” At their nods, Warriors turns to Twilight. “Go nuts.” 

  Watching Twilight escape is very nearly as interesting as watching him get tied up. The rancher doesn’t explain nearly anything at all, focusing instead on getting out, but Warriors fills the blanks, pointing out that shifting, tugging and rolling your limbs can help loosen most bonds, even if it does tend to tighten the knots. “You don’t want to untie each knot, just get out of them. Most escapes need to be quick so as to actually be able to get out, but some circumstances give you time enough to pick over the knots later if you need the rope for something else. Getting a read on your situation at all times is crucial, but you have to rely on your own judgement much of the time in order to know what skills to employ and what to set aside.” 

  By the time the man is done speaking, Twilight is springing up out of the chair and making a grab at the captain. Almost without breathing, Warriors catches the other in a headlock. It's like watching a snake strike, one moment it looks like Twilight has him, and the next, the rancher is doubled over with their captain’s arms around his neck. 

  “Good try.” 

  Twi grins. “Woudla had’ja if I’d had time to slip my feet free.” 

  “Or if I’d been paying less attention,” the captain smiles, but it’s cold, thin, and very much not like their brother. The man’s hands let loose the other, leaving Twilight free to tug loose his feet while he turns back to the rest of them. “A key point is to watch for opening at all times. If your enemy turns their back or drops their guard, they give you a chance to over-power, injure, or kill them.” It’s said too coldly, too clinically, as though Warriors isn’t even talking about a life at all. He's beginning to see why the man spoke about this sort of training like he did; Warriors will be dumbing it down for them, making it something they can process, but with soldiers, commanders who didn’t give a shit about the innocence of their students, he can only imagine how this sort of thing would have been, especially paired with the knowledge that Warriors had also withstood training for torture and interrogation, so the mental strain would have been far worse then. 

  Honestly, maybe it’s not an act. Maybe Warriors is just used to shutting his emotions off when it comes to issues like this. 

  “Any questions?” 

 “Yeah,” it’s a new voice, one he doesn't know yet, which speaks, and it has all the heroes turning about abruptly at the sound of it, except the captain, who seems unsurprised, unlike them, to see Four’s father standing in the doorway “What on earth is going on here?” 

  As though of one mind, they all turn on the smithy. 

  “Training?” 

  “What kind?” The man leans in the door, one brow raised. He doesn’t look upset, maybe bemused, but Wind still feels Legend draw up stiff beside him. 

  “Escape training, sir,” Warriors clips, stepping forwards to address the man, “your son tells me he hasn't had a chance to undergo such training previously.” 

  “No.” It’s a very loaded word, “he hasn’t.” Guarded, wary, maybe even pained. Wind’s not sure, but he supposes maybe Four’s father doesn’t like the idea of his son undergoing whatever this training entails. 

  The captain doesn’t let the other knight’s tone bother him though. “All due respect sir, he requested that the Hero of Twilight and I instruct him, and the rest, in order that he might have some knowledge of what to do in the case of capture, sir.” Oh, Warriors is falling into soldier mode for real now. Shit. 

  Sir Smith notices too, apparently, face softening some as he looks at the younger soldier. “As ease, captain.” 

  Warriors does not relax in the slightest. 

  “Well,” their smithy’s father turns to look over them and the room in general, “I suppose it’s good knowledge to have, and about time you had it. Is there anything I can do to assist?” 

The offer is accepted eagerly by their smithy, and while Warriors still looks somewhat tense, Wind’s quite sure it’s the nature of the training and not the man offering to help with it. No, the captain and this world’s army commander had got on like a housefire last night, and he knows Warriors likes the man. It’s fine, his brother is just uncomfortable and thus falling into familiar patterns and behaviors in order to not betray that. Given time after, and Warriors will slowly drop those and return to his normal self once he’s ready. He’ll be okay. 

 “Escapin’ is like pretty boy said,” Twilight tells them, standing up again now that he’s free, “it’s a matter of gettin’ the ropes loose enough t’slip out. Amateurs tend to go too loose, an’ they keep it quick an’ easy. ‘pparently soldiers cover all the bases though.” The last part is added with a snort and a light nudge at their captain. 

  Time nods, slowly. “Four minutes and seventeen seconds. Quite impressive, pup.” 

  The words have the rancher beaming. 

  “Right,” Warriors plows ahead, ignoring the moment and looking over each of them. “Legend, you said you’d been trained, how about you show the rest how a smaller individual can handle this?”  

  The vet glares at the implications but doesn’t say anything. It’s fact that most of them aren’t nearly as big as Twilight and, considering few of them possess his brute strength either, having a few examples will probably give them more to work off of in the long run. Still, there’s something wary about the way the vet approaches the chair, hands already fisted as he stands in front of it, rather than deliberately sitting as the rancher had done. 

 “Commander,” Warriors turns over to Four’s father (he’s introduced himself as Leon, right?) and motions to the vet. “I believe you have more experience than I.” 

  The elder soldier nods, in one motion both conveying respect and also submitting himself to the command of the younger soldier for the time being, which Wind thinks is very grand of him considering it’s the older man’s own house they’re in, and his son they’re teaching. Then again though, Four had said that his dad is the sort of person who isn’t afraid to let a younger person take the lead if they know what they’re doing. 

  He wonders how Four knows that to be able to say it so confidently. What on earth does he get up to on his own? 

  A question for later, he guesses. Right now, it’s time to pay attention, because even if he hopes to grow as big as Twilight, Legend and he are pretty close in size now, so this will be more useful for him than watching the rancher. 

  Unlike Twilight, Legend doesn’t go easily, making Leon actually have to fight against him in order to continue. That, apparently, it is good though, as Warriors makes it a teaching point, “Generally speaking,” one large hand catches the vet’s dominant one, “you don’t want to let the enemy tie you down in the first place. Honor is all well and good, but when it comes to surviving, no one’s blaming you for fighting dirty.” Something Legend is notorious for. “Watch how the vet handles this, then we’ll discuss after. Sir Leon-” that is the right name then, great! “-will probably approach it differently than I do as well, so be aware that all captors are not the same.” 

  And the smithy’s father definitely doesn’t handle things the way Warriors did, nor does Legend. Where Twilight had let Warriors shift and move him as needed, Legend fights, and where Warriors had given little vocal cues to his “prisoner” and guided his motions carefully, well aware that a wrong move from the rancher at close proximity could do damage, Leon isn’t nearly as careful, instead grabbing, holding, and forcing the vet’s arms behind his back before slinging a rope around them with all the speed of a sailor in a storm. Also, unlike Warriors, Leon doesn’t use a variety of knots, rather keeping it quick and tight. 

  “He’s got thin wrists, so a tighter bind is needed. Some tie it tight enough to harm, but that’s not the goal here. Know it happens though.” The elder soldier tells them, yanking back on the vet who makes to push away. He doesn’t try to force the vet into the chair, instead catching the younger by the collar while his free hand works, hissing, “stay still, you wriggly thing!” 

  Wind’s not sure what exactly about the situation is wrong, but he swears he hears the vet’s breath catch, stutter, and then with a truly terrific show of strength, Legend rips himself free of the man’s hold, kicking back against the knight and propelling himself forwards hard enough that his collar slips free from the man’s hands and the vet can stumble very quickly away. Rather than stage an “attack” though, the hero just spins about, and the whole room freezes. 

  Legend’s stance is too tightly wound, breath too sharp, too harsh, but most obvious is the utter and complete terror shining in blown out violet eyes.  

  “Shit,” Warriors is moving before any of them have a clue what to do, and all aggression, put on though it was, immediately disappears from Leon’s own stance as both knights recognize what Wind himself has as well. He doesn't know how, and he doesn’t know why, but something about the situation has acted as enough to trigger the vet into some sort of panic, and what to them is a training exercise, has become, to his mind, very, very real. 

  “Lad-” Leon’s motion towards the vet earns a start back, one that is made even worse when Four jumps up from where he’d been watching. Wind can’t imagine why the sight of Four, of all of the people in the room, would make Legend stumble so far back that he falls flat on his ass, but it happens. It happens and none of them, especially the smithy, miss it. 

  “Vet?” They’re all worried, and several of them step forwards, reaching out, ready to help, wanting to help, only for both Hyrule and Wild to grab those closest to them and pull them back, something Wind does himself, catching ahold of the smithy. The last thing the vet needs is people crowding in and leaving him no space to breathe. Being surrounded when you’re vulnerable is bad, very bad, and if watching out for Mask and watching the captain taught him anything, it’s that letting an experienced adult handle it and keeping everyone else away is the best course of action. 

  “Is he-” again, Leon’s voice is cut off, this time though by a strangled sound from the vet. 

  “Leon,” and it’s the first time that the soldier’s voice has dropped titles to use anything else, “leave.” 

  “Excuse me?” Four hisses, but that also seems to have a very negative effect, one that has the captain turning, slowly, voice low and soft but cold enough to freeze.  

 “You too, smithy.” 

  Whatever is about to be said in return is cut off by Leon hefting his son over his shoulder and quickly leaving the room, although both he and Four look after the others even as they exit the door. If the situation were any different, Wind thinks he might have laughed at Four’s easy acceptance of being carried like a potato sack by his father, but right now dealing with the vet takes precedence. Luckily for all at hand, even if Warriors isn’t the most qualified to run a training simulation, there’s no one better at handing panic attacks. 

  Despite being downed, Legend’s still managed to shift enough that the ropes Leon was working to be decently tight have been mostly ripped off, although they’ve left a nasty burn across the hero’s skin, one that’s bleeding slightly in the worst areas along the inside of his wrists. No one stops him freeing himself though, and while the performance is definitely over, there’s also a part of all of them that notes how quickly Legend pulls himself free, the sailor even hears Time whisper a soft “two minutes, fourteen seconds” to himself, slightly awed. 

  “Hey,” Warriors’ voice has lost every amount of edge, ice, or stiffness as he settles down in front of their felled brother, now as full of warmth as if he’s back on the field, talking Mask out of his own head after the younger hero’s namesake was put away again. “You with me?” 

  Ragged breathing would indicate that no, Legend is not. He’s very much not, just staring after the door where Four and his father had disappeared, eyes still wide and breath too shallow. 

  The captain reaches out; slow, deliberate motions, easy to track as he reaches for the other hero. “You’re okay, alright? You’re safe. We were training, but it’s over. There is no threat here.” 

  The vet flinches away from the hand, inches from his arm, back slamming against a cabinet and making whatever’s inside clatter loudly, which just sees to further unsettled the shaken hero, who jumps at the sound, whipping his head around to look back, only to flick unseeing eyes back towards the captain. 

  Warriors doesn’t so much as falter, using his lifted hand to slowly push shaggy hair out of where it’d been over his eyes for the last while, messy and just slightly wavy at the ends, like he’s not had time to straighten it in a while. “Hey, it’s me. It’s Warriors, you in there, Link?” 

  Violet eyes flicker across the older man’s face, and this time, when Warriors reaches out, Legend doesn’t start away again, although he watches the hand reaching for him like it’ll produce a knife at any second. Luckily for all, the captain’s not capable of that sort of a trick, and all his hand does is catch one of Legend’s own, not by the wrist as Leon had done, but gently catching fingers in his own and guiding them towards himself, pulling the vet’s hand to settle over his chest, eyes locking with the other’s as he breathes a long, purposeful, breath. 

 Just like Mask used to, Legend mimics the action, although his own breath catches some. It doesn’t stop the captain from trying again though, and slowly, steadily, Legend’s breathing evens out again, clarity returning to his eyes like stars coming out at dusk. 

  “There you are,” their brother breathes, soft and warm and gentle and everything that eases tension and doesn’t spark it further, “keep breathing, you’re okay.” 

 Just because he says it though, doesn't mean it works, because the next breath that escapes their brother sounds more like a strangled sob. 

  Warriors doesn’t so much as falter. “You’re okay. It’s alright,” the hand that lifts is flinched back from, so the captain drops it again, resting it only over the hand still pressed to his own chest. “Keep breathing- there we go. You’re okay, you’re safe.” 

 The dart of dark eyes to the door betrays that Legend doesn’t believe him for a moment, but the vet shudders only a bit, focusing on Warriors again as he pulls away from the cabinets, although not so much to be closer to the captain as to not longer be shrinking away. It’s a sign of some recognition though, which is far better than nothing, and apparently a cue for the soldier to find out what is going on. 

  “That escalated a bit quick, wanna tell me what went wrong?” 

  Legend opens his mouth to answer, but a hitching breath is all that comes out, face twisting and screwing up again enough to warn that a repeat is very much in the cards. 

  Warriors counters quickly. “Was it the ropes? Too tight? Too many people?” He keeps the questions far enough apart to give time for a signal one way or another, but Legend doesn't do much more than force shaking breathes out as his hands reach to tangle in his wild hair. His hat fell off in the scuffle, and currently lies at Time’s feet. “Was Leon too-” 

  The strangled sound at the man’s name cuts Warriors off, and recognition shines in blue eyes. 

  “Leon.” Warriors repeats. 

  Legend’s eyes squeeze closed; face pinched up and shattered. 

  The soldier sighs. “Can I touch you?” 

  “No.” The fact that it’s verbalized is a huge step, and Wind sighs a breath of relief. 

  Warriors, likewise, accepts the boundary, shifting back a bit to grant their vet more space, but not so much as to seem like he’s leaving. “Okay, this is related to Leon. Was it how he handled you?” 

  Nothing. 

  “Was it something one of us said?” 

  A hitch in the vet’s breath, the captain opens his mouth to try again, to press, but Legend answers aloud again this time, voice a wreck. “I- he-” a desperate gasp for air as ringed fingers tug at messy hair, “he’s sounds-”  

  No doubt recognizing Mask’s same struggle with words in the other, Warriors offers his own, soft and quiet, but not yet a whisper. “Did he sound like someone you know?” 

  A nod. A fervent, desperate, nod as violet eyes squeeze shut again. “Sorry...” 

  Hearing the vet apologize has never sounded like such an awful thing. He hates it. 

  The captain clearly does too, but he says nothing to that effect, although the brief flick of his ears and flash of his eyes says it for him. “It’s not your fault. It happens to the best of us.” 

 A scoff. Yeah, Legend’s still in there. 

  Warriors presses on. “No really, it does. It sucks, but it happens.” 

  Dark eyes peek open, fixing on the captain. 

  “Yes, even with me.” The smile there is pained, strained, but real, despite all, and the flick down of the vet’s eyes to still outheld hands prompts the captain to reach out once more. “Would you like me to touch now?”  

 There’s a pause, nothing said, and nothing done, just a stillness as Legend considers the offer. He’s wary about touch even on good days, but usually only when it’s expressly offered or pointed out. When no one says anything, it’s usually met with acceptance as long as it’s not demeaning in any way.  

  As though catching onto a similar train of thought, Warriors changes his offer. “I could lend you my scarf?” 

  A glare. Okay, rude, it’s not that demeaning! Wind likes the scarf! Mask adored the scarf! Enough to throw fits when it wasn't his turn with it! Legend doesn’t have to want it, but there’s no need to make faces like that! It earns a laugh from their captain though, eyes creasing the way they rarely do, and only when he really means it, hand falling to rest gently on the foot of the other. Legend doesn’t shake him off, just stares, then lifts his gaze back up to search the captain’s face again. 

  Warriors meets it, smile fading back to the sad one again. 

 The vet’s gaze drops, arms falling to wrap around himself rather than digging his fingers into his scalp. “He looks-” a breath, harsh and strained, angry as it whishes between clenched teeth, brows drawing low with inward turned frustration, “the- our-” 

  “He looks like someone you know?” At yet another, hesitant, nod, Warriors presses further. “Someone who hurt you? Maybe someone you used to trust?” 

  A sigh. A slow nod before the vet’s head drops to rest against his raised knees. He's still shaking. 

  It’s clear as day that Warriors wants nothing more than to wrap an arm around their brother, pull hm close and assure, but he doesn’t. No, the captain respects the established boundary and doesn’t move any closer, hand just resting on one ankle as he crouches in front of their brother. “I get that.” his voice is softer now, bittersweet, “it sucks, I know. There's someone you trust and then you can’t trust them anymore, and it’s hard, especially when you meet someone who reminds you of them.” 

  Shit. Wind knows he shouldn’t, knows both he and Time know better, but neither can help it as they turn their focus on the captain, wary and watching. That is never a good subject to talk about, but the fact that Warriors is the one broaching it for the first time in forever is frankly shocking. 

  “You too?” Legend’s trying to pass off a tired smile of his own, but it just looks like he’s trying not to cry. 

 The captain nods, lifting his hand (definitely noticing how Legend’s breath catches at the loss of contact) and instead turning to lean his own back against the china cabinet, settling in beside their shaken brother, eyes falling closed in what’s both an open sign of trust, but also an obvious bid to ignore the sharp stares of both his boys on him. “Yeah, me too. It sucks, doesn’t it?” 

 “Sounds just like him,” Legend says, the first full sentence since he’d gone down, and Wind doesn't miss the way the other hero leans a bit closer into the captain’s space, although he doesn't touch him. “Looks like ‘im too.” 

  Blue eyes open again, turning past all their curious and worried ones to watch the vet, warm and gentle, that same look that he’d turn on Mask, and Wind doesn't doubt it was turned on him too, when Warriors thought they weren't looking. 

  The vet shudders, steeling himself up again, walls visibly reconstructing before their eyes. “He used to visit, when I was small. I saw him like a grandfather-” and they crumble again, the vet blinking violently, voice small. “He has granddaughters my age.” 

  “What happened?” Wind doesn’t mean to let the words slip, but they do. 

  Legend’s head hits the cabinet doors. “Corrupted.” 

 The captain nods. He knows. Wind knows that he knows. “I’m sorry.” 

  “He sounded just like him.” 

  “I know,” it’s a hysterical sort of laughter that escapes the older hero this time, “trust me, I get it. Every time I hear an Ordon accent, any time someone suggests playing chess,” the captain’s eyes roll upwards, and Wind’s kind of shocked when he realizes there’s tears there. “It sucks. Gods it sucks, but you live with it. I wish I could say it gets better, but I’m not there yet.” 

  Pink hair drops, settling against faintly shaking shoulders. “You were close?” 

Suddenly the moment before them feels too private to witness anymore. Suddenly, being there feels wrong, hearing Legend ask things that everyone at home in Warriors’ world knows better than to speak of. He doesn't know why Warriors answers, maybe out of guilt for pulling the vet into the exercise, maybe out of a need to set an example or assure, maybe out of his own sort of desperation, but an answer is given. 

  “Yeah. Grew up together. He teased me for my accent, I teased him for his. We ran our mothers to worry and our commanders to madness. I hauled his ass out of prison, he watched mine on the field. Heck,” a smile, bittersweet as the captain settles a cheek in rosy hair, “we went through our trailing- kinda like what I was trying to show the others- we did that together too.” A soft scoff, not a sob, but close, “I think he’s the only reason I made it through training t’all. Would’ve gone mad wit’out ‘im.” 

  “What happened?” Twilight dares speak up, and Wind doesn’t miss the way the man’s thick accent is held in check, nearly gone altogether. So, Twi did hear the comment about Ordon. 

  The captain sighs, lifting his head and staring out at the rest of them, eyes fixing on the rancher last of all. “Ganon. As with most things.” 

  Twilight winces. 

  Warriors chuckles. “Some days it’s like he never left though. He’s still on my ass, still callin’ me ‘pretty boy and tryin’ to get a rise outta me.” Wind doesn’t miss how Twilight’s face crumbles when he realizes blue eyes are still fixed on his. The captain doesn’t either, smile twitching alive again. “It’s nice, sometimes, like seeing what he’d be like if nothing happened. Other days, it’s difficult, and it makes it hard to get through the day.” 

  “How do you handle us?” Legend breathes, half scoff and half awe, eyes trying for a smile again and doing much better. It’s not happy, but it’s kind. 

  The captain doesn’t miss it. “Hylia only knows,” he teases, knocking his shoulder against the one still pressed against it, and then, more serious, “I draw back if I need. Sure, Twilight reminds me of him a lot, some days, but then he does something Gassun would never, or does something so stupid only a hero would do it, and then I remember again and I’m fine.” 

 “Really?” The Stare of Disappointment was definitely something Time learned from the captain, so Wind can’t fathom why the man tries to use it on their brother, but here he is, doing just that. “You expect us to believe that?” 

  “Have faith in me,” Warriors snorts, “I don’t wander around in my own head all day. If I did, you’d’ve burned the world down already!” 

  It sort of ends like that. Warriors redirecting their attention and Legend rolling his eyes at their antics, slowly uncurling again until Four’s mother comes back inside and requests access to her kitchen again. They scatter after, Warriors throwing an arm around the vet and guiding him upstairs so they can have a talk, Time going off in search of the smithy and his father, Wild joining in dinner preparations, and the rest of them cleaning up their mess before leaving. 

 Hyrule still has questions for Twilight about escaping, but Sky heads upstairs after the others, worry creasing his brow in ways it rarely does, but Wind stays behind, scooping up Tongs to keep him company in the wake of his brothers all leaving. Even so, he makes a note to ask the others how they are later. 

  Of course, later, Twilight also asks about what Warriors said, and the captain, to the shock of both his charges, explains himself. Thinking back, it’s no wonder Warriors sees a resemblance; Twilight may have spent his last few years in Ordon, but the military haircut is still very present, a mirror of the captain's own and quite similar to said captain's old friend. Granted, Twilight is darker, hair redder and eyes bright blue, but the accent is the same, rough manner so similar, and the nicknames definitely finish the picture. He doesn’t like the implications of that, not for either of the two, but Twilight walks out of the conversation only looking someone thoughtful, rather than upset, and Warriors seems normal enough, although still quiet for the rest of their time in the smithy’s Hyrule. 

 Collectively, they agree to abandon the escape training. If they want tips, they’ll go to Twilight, but the emotional toll taken on both the vet and the captain isn’t worth it to any of them. Not a second time. Not when they all regret the first one. 

[esther-dot]

The Copper Queen 110k @jrojoyce

Is it possible to find love in such an inhospitable place? If you do find it, can it survive against both man and nature? Fresh from their discharge from the army, Jon Snow and his friend, Samwell Tarly, arrive in the small mining town of Copper Canyon, Arizona in hopes of building their future. Unbeknownst to Sam, Jon has picked this location for a specific personal reason. Will his choice lead them to a bright future or will their future evaporate like water in the desert? Sansa Stark had lived in Copper Canyon for over half her life. She and her sister, Arya, are all that remain of their once large family. In the old west rumor and gossip can quickly become legend. And if you believe the legends of Copper Canyon, than you know the Starks carry a curse. A curse placed on them by a man who still styles himself as their friend and protector. Will a chance meeting with the town's newest arrival be enough to break that curse?

Four Brides for One Jon 1k by @thefairfleming

It’s the flowers that do it. For the past hour, Sansa had been sitting in the stagecoach, trying to maintain some semblance of calm in the face of what appears to be an utter disaster. All four of them in this coach, four women taking a chance on a new life with a complete stranger, and it turns out they’ve all been summoned by the same stranger.

There's a feeling in your eyes (the shadows can't erase) 7k, incomplete

Following the sensational and mysterious deaths of her family, Sansa Stark marries her cousin, Jon Snow, a newly appointed Sheriff in the wild country of the Arizona Territory.

Ivory & Lace 68k by @vivilove-jonsa

Jon Snow was a loner and the townsfolk all agreed he was a dangerous man. Sansa Stark has been sent out West to marry Ramsay Bolton, a man she's never met. When Sansa and Jon meet in town, the attraction is immediate despite the obstacle of a fiancé in the way.

Leather & Lace 134k by @vivilove-jonsa

After her husband had died of consumption last year, many in town had doubted that a young woman of twenty could keep things afloat but Sansa Stark Tyrell is no ordinary young woman and she's determined to keep her ranch and to keep her newfound family together. But a ranch the size of the Golden Rose needed more than one old man, two green boys, three young women and a baby to keep it thriving. They needed at least one man in his prime. “A man in his prime for the ranch and a man in his prime in your bed,” Mya had teased when she’d spoke of hiring someone. She’d smothered a giggle and told Mya to hush up when she’d said it but something low in her belly tightened at the memory.

Deep in the Heart of a Lone Star Lady 11k

Sansa Stark finds herself running a cattle ranch in Texas in the 1800's but profits dip lower and lower each year. Just when she thinks she is on the verge of losing everything, the new ranch hand Jon Snow walks into her life and gives her so much more to live for.

An Outlaw and His Prize 1k by @framboise-fics

“Do you know what you’ve done?” she says, scathingly, her voice poised as ever even though he remembers the fear in her eyes when he burst in through the window of the room where Baelish was keeping her, even though her fingers clutch tightly to his coat where she sits sidesaddle on the horse before him.

Go West, Jon Snow 107k by @kittykatknits

The year is 1852. Jon Snow is ready to begin a new life in the Oregon Territory. To do so, he will travel via wagon train through one of the famous trails in the Old West. But, first, Jon needs to find himself a wife.

Seven Snow Brothers and Their Wives 6k WIP by @kittykatknits

Seven brothers, all backwoods mountain men, decide they need a woman's help with the cooking and other chores. Only, it turns out finding a wife isn't as easy as it seems. Soon enough, with some help from Sansa, it's time for them to go courting. And if that doesn't work, then they can always ride into town and steal their brides, like those Sobbin' Women they heard about. Maybe this way they'll be able to find the girl for them? And maybe even have a wedding or seven?

Desert Snow 10k by @tinywriter2018

Jon snow owns a ranch while Sansa helps run the family clothing store. Many rumors are going around about the mysterious rancher who mostly comes to town when he has to.

mountain man drabble by @charmtion

Season by season, the way he’d lived up till meeting her. But now he lives to drown, draws breath just so he can lose it in the depths of her eyes, the honey of her smile, the salt of her on his tongue, the sound of her some church-song in his ears.

Cathouse ficlets 1, 2, 3 by @justadram

Sansa’s only been working in Baelish’s cathouse for a week to pay off the debt she incurred from being brought out here to escape her bastard of a fiancé, when Mya comes to her and announces in that brash voice of hers that there’s a shy gentleman downstairs looking for a girl with red hair.

Gifset by @thewindsofwolves -- Gifset by @theirwinterfell -- Gifset by @dcbicki

PRE CANON - FAIRYTALES - REGENCY - LITTLE WOMEN - HOLIDAY - SEASON 6 ANNE OF GREEN GABLES - THE GIRL IN GREY - FREE CITIES - FAIRYTALE PART II - POLITICAL MARRIAGE - SALTY TEENS - POST CANON

[riverside-lavender]

i decided to make a list of the link’s and their spice tolerance. um. yeah.

wild: high. loves spicy food! loves weird/acquired tastes (see- monster extract and dubious food is still edible)

sky: low. i love him but. yeah low. maybe medium low.

twilight: LOW. this man lives in the country. he must drink that horrifying sweet tea. he cannot handle spice.

time: low! he grew up with immortal children and had like two childhoods. he is still a child. he cannot handle spice.

legend: high. maybe more medium-high but even if he can’t handle it he’ll pretend he can.

hyrule: low. idk literally anything about his games except that they’re hard as shit so he must not get food easily. spices are expensive and really just for taste. low bc of circumstance… i think he can and will build it up though

four: medium. the colors vary so it evens out. (blue and red like spice, vio is medium, green is low) (vio is only medium bc i love him. realistically he’s probably low like green.)

wind: high. idc that he lives on a tiny island this boy loves spicy food. his grandma’s soup has just the right amount of spice for everyone. she gives out the recipe but nobody else can do it like her.

warriors: low. this man was in the army he’s used to rations and tasteless food.

[linkbetweenlinksau]

7, 9, and 14 :3

Bless you for having the questions right here for me to see

7. What’s the weirdest thing (character) has done/ would do? I think this is meant to have a specific character mentioned, but I’ll try to give a good answer lol. I think the weirdest thing is def Sky breaking into people’s houses and sleeping in their beds lol. Not even Wild does that. And yeah I know that Sky grew up with the people of skyloft, but I love to imagine that he just does that. So when he’s out of skyloft, he discovers that not everyone likes it when a random stranger goes into their home and sleeps in their beds lol. Apparently people will call the town guard on you 🤔

9. What headcanons/ plans do you have about (character)’s family? I think this is meant to be another specific character, but I think a lot about the Link’s families! Sky, Minish, Time, and Legend I have no ideas, but there’s Hyrule’s family that I think about the most! His mother is a great fairy and his father is a Hylian, so he himself is a half fairy! His father Benji married his mother Faima since he was conceived and they raised him together. But unfortunately, while traveling Hyrule, Benji lost sight of his son, and they got separated. Benji spent most of his time looking for his son (his real name is Orchid) but he was basically renamed Link and was all over Hyrule. So he wasn’t able to find him until after the events of aol. Benji and Faima were pretty distraught knowing how rare and valuable their son is, so it was bad vibes. But now that they’ve reunited, they’re trying to rekindle their relationship! But Hyrule doesn’t remember much of his childhood, just vague memories of his parents, so it’s a challenge.

Twilight’s biological family still has me confused. Idk how old I want him to be when he meets Rusl and Uli, idk how his parents died, idk where they died, idk what’s happening. But I do know that during the temple of time, Link was officially adopted by Rusl and Uli. Very wholesome and cute.

Four’s mother was a very tough woman, which ended up being her demise. When he was 3 months old, she got sick and ended up collapsing cuz she kept pushing through. Leon (Four’s father) found her and took her to the healer, and she ended up dying. Leon had to take time off from being a knight to take care of his son, fortunately the king was very kind and understanding, and many women were able to help feed Four since he was still a baby. When Four got older, the king allowed him and Lily (his Zelda) to be raised together while Leon was working. That’s why the two are so close, and Leon helped Lily when the king eventually passed away. It’s just Four and his father now

Windy’s parents died when he was like… four? Or five. He was pretty young. His mother died during child birth, and his father and grandfather died during a hurricane. Grandma and Aryll were all he had left. He has vague memories of his father, he still remembers him promising Windy to take him fishing someday. But it never happened.he adores his sister and grandma of course, and he sorta had to grow up to help raise Aryll and many of the kids on outset. He was at an awkward age where he was too young to hang out with the adults, but too old to hang out with the kids, and he always had to babysit them. So he spent a lot of time alone or with Aryll, since she’s a lovely sister.

I have no ideas for Spirit so moving onto Wild and Age. They basically have the same family sooooo yeah. His father is Ammon and his mother is Sarah. Sarah is from Hateno and trained under her father to be a blacksmith. Ammon is from castle town and has had a rough time after his older brother, Georgie, died. He got motivated to join the army and to protect people, and that led him to Hateno where he and Sarah met. Age/Wild have/had a younger sister named Aryn, who’s much younger than her older brother, probably around 12, and she’s a more positive upbeat kinda gal. His grandfather is an intimidating and strict old man, but he has a soft spot for his grandchildren. They rarely see Ammon’s parents tho since their relationship is very strained. Not much else to say, beloved. Rip Wild.

And Warriors…. When he was very little, probably 5, he was with his twin sister Linkle, his grandmother, and his father. Monsters attacked their village and they got separated, with Linkle sticking with her grandmother, and Warriors sticking with his father. They all assumed they were dead. Linkle and her grandmother stayed at some outskirts village while Warriors and his father stayed near castle town since his father is a knight. Warriors got pretty popular with the knights that his father knew, and when he was 12, his father passed away. Warriors went to his father’s best friend, Theo and asked him to train him when he was 13 cuz he wanted to follow his father’s footsteps, so he was trained. Hence why he’s so good at fighting. Their grandmother died a little before the war of eras, so he never reunited with her. But he and his twin sister were able to meet again :)

Phew ok that’s it, I hope that makes sense and I hope that’s how you’re supposed to answer the question 😭😭

14. Do you have any headcanons about the races of Hyrule? Man this would’ve been the perfect time to talk about Hylians vs humans 😭😭 guess I’ll do it again. Hylians and humans are very similar to each other, but they are physically different! Obviously Hylians have pointy ears, and it allows them to hear better than humans. They’re also much tougher than humans. They can fall from a high height into water or on land and have a higher chance of surviving than if a human were to fall. They can also handle extreme temperatures much better than humans. This is all based on gameplay in Zelda, which I know that Link is pretty tough in game cuz it’s a video game, but hey, there’s gotta be some differences! This is more focused on my strangers across eras au but it’s fun to think of differences between the races!

[lu-twilights-pup]

gender headcanons for the chain?

Okay okay okay so, im either gonna have everything to say or nothing to say-

(I also have to go back and fix some of these in my fic bc i didn’t come up with these headcanons till later)

DISCLAIMERS:

N/a\

Four (He/They):

Four themself is very basic, cis little man just living his cis little life

THE COLORS:

GREEN (he/him) : Also a little cis man, just living his life, never really question much about it, doesn’t plan to

BLUE (he/she/they) : Little genderqueer menace. Will answer to any pronoun any day. Has a lean towards femininity when separated.

RED (he/they/she) : Also a little genderqueer, but doesn’t specifically come out about it, is just started answering to everything

VIOLET (they/them): Its giving nonbinary

Hyrule (he/fae):

Going by fae just feels neat, and makes him feel closer to faes sisters. Only let certain people address him with fae/faer pronouns.

Legend (he/they/she):

This little fucker has been through so many worlds and cultures that in each they feel a different connection to gender that he has basically accumulated into a mess. not really a gender crisis, more like the room is on fire and she is sipping on coffee ignoring everyone.

Sky (he/him):

Very basic in his identity, never really though about it too much, once tried she/they pronouns, wasn’t for him and felt content in his he/him-ness

Time (any and all):

Like legend, he is a cluster fuck of identities and such, only each identity is tied to times, masks, etc. most likely to be called ‘he’ and is fine with that, but wont bat an eye at being called anything else. Very androgynous. Feirce diety will only respond to they, the other transformative masks have their own identities and genders attached to them.

Twilight (he/they):

Got called ‘they’ once as Wolfie bc no one knew if he was a male or female wolf and Sky thought it was rude to keep calling Wolfie an ‘it’, and has been having an identity crisis ever since-

Warriors (he/him):

Also has fluctuated between identities through his time in he army, but didnt find anything that stuck better then he/him. He likes they/them on occasion thought (but only very specific occasions)

Wild (they/he/she) :

An actual cluster fuck, doesn’t really have a concept of gender, its a very loose construct in their Era, and thus runs with anything that he is called, doesn’t really feel a particular attachment to any one or two set. Has no problem just being called ‘Wild’

Wind (he/him):

He's just a lad. Doesnt really care abut it rn.

Just a little lad, little lading. Doesn’t really care, is the ‘toughest man out there’ - Wind

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Butch: What happened to the old bank? It was beautiful. Guard: People kept robbing it. Butch: Small price to pay for beauty.

- William Goldman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Screenplay (1970)

In a brilliant William Goldman script peppered with memorable lines, the first exchange sets the tone of this classic Western movie. Butch looks around a bank at closing time, chatting with the security guard as he perhaps sizes up his next job.

“What happened to the old bank? It was beautiful.” “People kept robbing it.” “That’s a small price to pay for beauty.”

Right away, Goldman establishes Butch as a charismatic mouthpiece for the quip-ready screenwriter, contrasting nicely with the Sundance Kid, Robert Redford’s taciturn sharpshooter. But he’s also created two heroes who break the western mold, neither justice-seeking white-hats nor grizzled, sneering black-hats, and not as traditionally masculine as either party. Butch is a man who appreciates beauty and art, but doesn’t have the stomach for violence; it’s not until late in the film that we (and the Kid) discover that he’s never shot a man before and he looks sickened to have to do it. He’s a pleasure-seeker above all else: robbing banks and trains are his way to make an easy living and enjoy whatever sinful freedoms his vocation affords him.

Audiences in 1969 were all too happy to embrace the light, quippy irreverence of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid after a turbulent summer, and Goldman, director George Roy Hill, and the two impossibly handsome stars made them feel cool for doing it. True Grit had performed well earlier in the year as a throwback to the genre’s past, giving John Wayne a proper victory lap, but Butch Cassidy was thoroughly modern, a star-making vehicle for Newman and Redford that reflected a need for the genre to turn the page and that feels as much of its time as it does authentic to Wyoming in the late 1890s. With Katherine Ross at the centre of a love triangle between friends, the film attempted to bring a French Jules and Jim vibe to the American mainstream, taking a lesson from the French new wave on how to revive old Hollywood craft.

It still works spectacularly well. There’s an alchemy up and down the production. Redford possesses easy charm, which parries so well with Newman’s smarts that the two would run it back again with Hill a few years later in The Sting.

The pop doodling of Burt Bacharach’s musical score is about as far from a traditional western score as possible, but it somehow meshes with the sepia sheen of Conrad Hall’s photography, which burnishes the legend of these two men while their story is still being told. And while Goldman’s screenplay dances on the edge of glib, it’s lively and sophisticated, with a strong theme about the capitalist forces that really tamed the Wild West.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is such a rollicking good time that it takes a while to notice it’s about the end of the line for its heroes, whose celebrity is already widespread when the film opens and ultimately hastens their demise. “Your times is over and you’re gonna die bloody,” warns a sheriff, prophetically, in an early scene, and the film is mostly about Butch and Sundance getting chased out of America by hired guns and dying at the hands of the Bolivian army. 

They’re mostly guilty of stealing from the wrong guy: EH Harriman, the railroad tycoon, spends more trying to catch them than they rob from his safes, but it’s an opportunity for a powerful man to send a message about who’s really in charge. Guys like Butch and Sundance can handle local lawmen and half-hearted posses, but they can’t fight progress. The EH Harrimans along with the the Rockefellers, JP Morgans, and the Carnegies and of the world - the original robber barons - would make certain of that.

[brendathedoodler]

Hey, I just wondering since they swapped, are their nickname swapped? Cause while some might make sense and it for clarity sake for us fans, but in universe does some of their nickname change?

Also speaking of nickname but not about the au, which is game name that Hyeule is from? Thanks

Yeah, in-universe it would make sense that their hero titles would swap with the adventures, but that would get really confusing. I did consider what some might get as alternate nicknames, though!

Sky would most likely get the name Cloud, since he’s always got his head in the clouds. Captain could also be a nickname for him, similar to LU Warriors, since they’re both army captains.

Four would most likely get his usual name since he still splits into four people. He’d suggest the name as an inside joke. Without that, though, he’d have other nicknames. ‘Champion’ is one he takes from LU Wild, but he also keeps the nickname ‘smithy’ since he trained as a blacksmith before he was chosen as the hero.

Time would actually have the name Lily. It’s a name he chose during the war of ages almost two decades ago, all because his big sister Saria said that it was her favorite flower, and that his hair reminded her of yellow lilies. It’s a nickname Sky still calls him, and sometimes Hyrule too. Along with that, he’d also have the nickname ‘sailor’, as well as being referred to as ‘the old man’.

Legend would get the name Cryptid. He chose it on purpose because he thought it was funny. Having three transformations, the capability to make noises that Hylian vocal chords cannot, and a glove that he never takes off gives him an air of mystery that he revels in (though his three transformations aren’t known about at first). His hair color does earn him the nickname ‘taffy’ from Warriors, which he always gets annoyed about.

Hyrule would have the name Bard. This is because of his assortment of instruments (primarily ocarina, flute, and harp) which he channels his magic through. He’d also have the nickname Fae, particularly by Sky and Time, as that’s what he went by during the war of ages. He’d also have the nicknames ‘wanderer’ and ‘traveler’ thanks to his sense of wanderlust.

Twilight would probably get the name Minish or Mini, or possibly Soul after the soul sword (the changed name of the four sword). He has a few nicknames along with that, and gains several after it’s revealed that he’s actually Wolfie (like ‘dog boy’). He’s still ‘the rancher’, too.

Wind’s name would probably be Addie, a self-chosen name short for adventurer. (and a nickname given to him by his childhood friends Maple and Irene). He’d also give himself the nickname ‘seven’ for his seven adventures, but only when teaming up with Four. He’d also earn the nickname ‘veteran’ for his experience, even if he’s young.

Warriors’ name is something I’m having a really hard time coming up with, but I think he would let his fairy companion Proxi give him a nickname. He has other nicknames too, things like ‘strategist’ or ‘tactician’, though sometimes those nicknames are used to use him since he tends to over-plan as a survival mechanism. Legend also has the tendency to mockingly refer to him as “your highness”, both as payback for being nicknamed Taffy and to joke about Warriors’ torn clothing that he absolutely refuses to replace no matter how much anyone offers him.

Wild would probably end up with the name Sky, but it could also be Loft or Loftwing. His original nickname is also plausible, as his fighting style is rather wild. He would also accept being referred to as the ‘chosen hero’ but he doesn’t necessarily like it (but expressing that would mean having to untangle the complicated feelings he has about it all, which he doesn’t want to deal with).

Edit: There’s an official nicknames list here for these guys!

[maybeamiles]

Characters that made me realize I was trans

You ever just wanna make a comprehensive list of everyone that gave you gender envy from a young age? Yeah me too.

So here it is! A list of every character that made me realize I was trans, starting from when I was a little kid!

No. 1 - Aravis from The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

Okay, weird racism in this book aside, the amount I loved Aravis was probably the first indicator that I was not cisgender. I thought she was so cool for dressing up as a boy and rejecting traditional femininity and being so "not-like-other-girls" (i also had a big not-like-other-girls phase around the time I read this, go figure). Of course, she is cisgender, and seems to fall into a *slightly* more traditional role by the end of the book, but this isn't about C.S. Lewis' gender stuff and more on the fact that I related very heavily to Aravis and the fact that she didn't fit in with other girls, because I also felt the same way.

Her male co-star Shasta also gave me gender envy so between them both it's no wonder 9-year-old me loved this book.

No. 2 - Deryn/Dylan Sharp from Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Once again it's the girl-dressing-up-as-a-boy-to-fuck-with-gender-rules trope! Only this time, Deryn Sharp is actually treated like a man by her male co-star, Alek (up until he figures out that Dylan is actually Deryn, but then he's quite supportive of her gender fuckery). Deryn, like Aravis, doesn't actually feel any gender dysphoria. Her gender fuckery is a means to pursue her passion for air travel via joining the army. This does get fucked up by the last book and she ends up needing to leave the army, but we don't actually see how she presents herself when in non-millitary society so I will headcannon that she remains quite butch.

I thought Deryn was the coolest when I was 13, and even wound up copying her way of saying "barking spiders" for a bit. And her and Alek's romantic relationship was peak goals for me, probably because it begins while Deryn still presents masc.

No. 3/4 - Link, from TLOZ: Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild

So, the Links! Let's talk about the Links!

Twilight was the first male character I remember projecting myself onto. So much so that I did not ship him and midna OR him and Illia (and didn't really like illia's quest), not because they didn't have chemistry but because I am very homosexual and did not like the idea of my self-insert being with a girl. Now, do cis girls project themselves onto male character? Idk but I'm not cis and this is something I did so *shrug*

I've lumped these two together because Zelda was a sort of twofer for me. I played Twilight Princess and then a couple years later played BOTW and began discovering what transgender people were. At the time I ID'd as nonbinary, and my Zelda obsession grew with my understanding of "shit I'm not cis." (I even named myself after a Zelda character for a bit). The links were my first *conscious* experience of gender envy, and hold a special place in my heart for it.

No. 5 - Aether from Genshin Impact

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, is the man, the myth, the legend, Aether Genshin Impact. And there is a STORY behind this guy's inclusion.

See, by the time I started playing genshin, I had long since accepted that I was not a girl. I called myself nonbinary, and thought I was okay with simply "not being a girl" and was fine doing what I saw all the other nonbinary people doing (binders, no testosterone, vaugely masc clothes, etc).

Then I booted up genshin impact, and had to pick between Aether and Lumine. And I still remember the "oh shit" moment I had when I realized that the default I expected to fall into would not make me happy. I had expected myself to pick Lumine, because I had previously thought that I was more comfortable with femininity than masculinity. I realized that I didn't just want "genderless." I wanted masculine. And I had this guy to thank for helping me come to that realization.

Anyways that's not all the characters that gave me gender envy or really even my entire "here's how I knew I was trans" but they are the most influential ones to me.

[stories-from-the-shaded-moon]

Whumptober Day22

(Glass shard)

In order for any of this to make any real sense, you might wanna check out this post

The Golden Gems are the boys btw(it’s referring to their Shards of Courage)

New divider made by @firefly-graphics

The sun fell over the horizon hours ago, the sky being overtaken by the darkness of night. Yet, the volley of flaming arrows lit up the sky.

It was a surprise attack, the Golden Gems unsheathed their weapons quickly, taking a defensive stance. The monsters pooled in from over a hill. The army of them looked to be five hundred and too many. They were terribly outnumbered. You could even say that they were out planned.

Fierce commanded the others while Mask got them ready, unsheathing the Biggoron sword and his shield materialized from his gem. The others followed the Fierce half’s directions.

Another volley of arrows flew through the sky, each landing in a tree and setting it ablaze. They felt Fierce’s eye open, but saw nothing out of it.

Wild shot his own arrows, hoping to hold them back just a little longer. Legend assisted the attack, taking out his own bow and making a few arrows materialize out of his purple gem.

Sky sent down a skyward strike, a beam of light following the slash of the blade. It killed some monsters, but the black stain among the other monsters put a glare on Time’s face.

Of course their dark counterpart would lead such a large army. How lucky did they expect to be in the Champion’s Hyrule?

“Old Man!” Wild yelled, trying to overpower the crackling of the fire. Time considered the choices. Fierce said that they’d be better off running and making sure that everyone was safe. Mask said that they should fight, that this hoard will only get larger if they left it alone and ran.

Time turned to Wild, both of the gems, Fierce and Mask reaching an agreement. “Forward!” The other gems went, war cries following them into the heat of battle.

Time threw his shield like a boomerang, decapitating three monsters on his way up the hill. Twilight had an idea similar, throwing his gale boomerang.

Mask caught their shield and Fierce swung their sword. It was like clockwork for them. They’ve fought together for years.

They swung once again at an enemy, but everything froze. They realized what happened.

They locked eyes with their dark counterpart, time in stasis around them. They knew what would happen. At least, Mask did. He’d dealt with this before.

The Shadow decided to look like them this time. Probably for old time’s sake. No words were exchanged, the two fusions eyed each other for another ten seconds or so.

The Shadow had a sly smirk pulled onto his face. Time moved, the Shadow mirrored that move. It seemed that they were also mirroring movements today too.

Mask scoffed, “What do you want?”

“I want to see someone shatter. It’s been far too long, hasn’t it? That we’ve shattered someone?”

“Shattering isn’t some game,” Mask and Fierce said in unison.

“Wouldn’t you know?” Shadow dashed at them, time around them unfroze at their command.

They reached for Fierce’s eye and the double helix sword he used to wield appeared in their hand. They dropped the Biggoron sword, deciding to swing the Fierce Blade.

Their sword clashed with their dark counterpart for what felt like eons, their opponent seeming not to tire even a bit.

Shoulder, thigh, hip. It had been injured at best. Either by the Shadow or a boko who wanted to get a hit in. The boys did the same to the Shadow, jumping in briefly to get their own hit in.

Wind decided that it was his turn to get his own hit in. He sliced through another blue bokoblin before he turned into a spin attack to cut the Shadow. The thing blocked the boy’s advance and kicked him hard enough to knock him into a tree.

Mask and Fierce cried the boy’s name when he wouldn’t get up. They dropped their guard and tried to run to him. They were grabbed by the back of their shirt and shoved into the dirt face first.

Mask screamed, the gem of his nose took most of the force. For a second, Fierce’s heart dropped. He knew what the Shadow was trying to do. Fierce used Time’s trembling hands to brace himself on the ground, Mask’s cries echoing in his brain.

“C’mon! Just shatter already!” Fierce couldn’t- no- he wouldn’t let that happen. Mask was not going to shatter while they were fused.

Time was turned on his back, Fierce raised their arms over their nose. He prayed that Mask hadn’t cracked.

“Someone get there!” They heard the Captain yell, worry laced into every word he spoke.

“I’m trying!” The Skyloftian shouted back.

“There’s too many of them!” Twilight groaned, panic in his own words.

That was when a boot met Time’s nose. An audible crack rang through the battlefield. Fierce paused.

“Mask…?”

No answer.

“Mask!”

“I-“ Fierce heard the smaller gem’s voice cut off and then a groan. “Cra-cked…” Fierce heard a static echo in their head.

Mask, his boy, his sapphire companion that he’s been with, the one he’s fought with for years, is cracked.

Shadow went for another stomp. Time didn’t have the luxury of time to move.

It hit his nose once more. This time, there was nothing, only the victorious laugh the Shadow spat out.

“How refreshing!” It stepped away from Time.

Time didn’t move.

“Mask! Please! Tell me you didn’t-“ Fierce couldn’t feel the coolness of the sapphire that graced his face. When he reached up to make sure that his companion was okay, he only brought back shards of royal blue. The royal blue of Mask’s gem.

Fierce found himself staring, the rest of the battlefield noise faded in the back. He heard their- no- his chest pound violently.

Time used to be the two of them, but now it was just Fierce. Mask was gone, right?

Fierce sat up and held the shattered bits of Mask.

“Hylia no!” Warriors knelt by Fierce’s side, picking at the shards. Out of all the friends the obsidian had lost, he never wanted to lose his little brother…

Fierce stared at the shattered bits in silence. Soon, the others started to crowd around.

Wind, with bandages around his head, decided to speak. “Well, at least you’re not fully shattered?”

Wild tried to help, “Yeah! I’m sure the Smithy could make you a shield just like your old one!”

“I would be happy to, of course!” Four smiled at Wild.

“Enough you idiots!” Warriors stood up, eyeing the three with a vicious glare. “Have you never seen a fusion in your lives?!”

“Captain…”

“No gem in the history of history has ever been made with two fucking gems!”

“Captain!”

Warriors balled up his fists. Sky hugged him, pushing the Captain’s head onto his own shoulder.

Fierce looked back down at the fragments. He felt his eyes start to water. But gems didn’t cry. Gems couldn’t cry. So why was his face wet and why, why, why?!

Time’s body shone white. When the white faded, it was just Fierce. Not even the green of Mask’s stupid hat remained.

Fierce’s breath caught in his throat, the shock setting in.

Mask was gone. Mask was shattered.

—

(:

[bloodybloob]

I can't get this idea out of my head of someone wronging a god, probably Wild to be honest, and the person desperately wants to know what's going to happen because it's well-known that it's not pleasant when a god gets mad at you. So Legend just appears in their dream and is like:

'Be prepared, coz you're screwed'

(Link to this au I came up with here).

“How is he?” Legend pushed aside the thick clouds that hid The Chain’s shared bedroom. He saw two wolf ears perk up from behind Wild’s fitfully sleeping form. Black shapes enveloped the ears and there sat up Twilight with a frustrated countenance.

“He’s gotten worse. Wind is too busy trying to stop a devastating war with Warriors, Hyrule, and Sky, until that’s over he can’t summon a rainstorm to put out the fire. Time doesn’t even know this is happening yet, he’s busy with… I don’t know, reality stuff I’m sure.” Twilight ran his hand through Wild’s hair, hair that would no doubt be soaked with sweat if he were mortal.

“Who started it?” Legend sat down next to their sickly brother, running a finger over the fresh burn scar on his cheek. Wild whined and leaned into the touch, his cheeks were warmly flushed and breaths shallow.

“A noble, according to Sky he’s rebelling against the King of Yalka and trying to gain more independence for his own selfish desires. He built up his own small army and started pillaging and burning stuff down, a farm he set fire to spread to a massive and dense forest right beside it..” Twilight sighed as he ran a hand through his messy hair, he looked tired.

Legend hummed. “My senses say it’s night currently, correct?” He smiled, widely, too widely.

Twilight looked at him, his frown turned into his own evil grin. “Yes, I do believe it is.”

Without another word Legend stood to his full height, an unsettling smirk rested on his face as he sunk through the floor.

He appeared on a jagged mountain that the Yalka region was known for, behind him was the massive castle imbedded into the mountainside. There the noble he was looking for was, covered in gold and servants bowing to his feet as he cheered in triumphant glee.

A dream of his victory? As if he’d ever get anywhere after his brothers were done with him. Four was likely waiting for when he got to the castle to unleash a rockslide, probably made of gold to run the salt a little deeper in the already gaping wounds.

His smirk grew, with a snap of his fingers the world shifted and warped, the mountain’s royal blues and purples were painted in angry reds and bleeding oranges, the perfect sky turned a sour yellow, and the sun burned an angry hole in the heavens.

The noble looked around with confusion, his face soon turned to that of horror as his servants melted around him and his gold sizzled, burning his skin like he did the forest and Legend’s brother.

Legend flicked his pointer finger towards him, flinging the rich man in his direction at immense speed.

Legend’s form warped and shifted as he grew ten times the size. Pink, sparkling mist made up his hair while his skin took a fine stoney grey, his eyes watered with soft purple and his robes grew twenty times the length, flowing behind him it petering off into swirling, lavender clouds.

The noble looked up at him in awe and terror before getting on his knees and deeply bowing to the god.

“You’re Grace, you’re oh so godly Grace! I am honored to have you here-“

“Silence, fool.” His voice rumbled throughout the dreamworld, trembles wracked the earth and the clouds swirling around them grew in darker hue.

The noble merely squeaked, shaking an unnecessary amount.

Legend sneered. “We have told you foolish mortals time and time again to cease with your destruction of the land, and yet every time we turn our eyes away you bring another blight onto the Earth’s pure beauty.”

Legend let a cold grin take over his face. “I am sure you’ve heard of what happens to those who disturb our brother’s delicate balance.” He leaned over as if he was talking to a child.

The noble looked up at him in horror, immediately understanding which god he was speaking of. “They’re never found…” he whispered with terror before pure dread framed his face. “Pl-please! I heard of the fire and know that I did not intend it! You have to believe me God of Prophecy, I-“

The clouds started to shake and swirl, thunder and lighting exploded in the dream’s visage, the piercing oranges and yellows turned a bloody red as the ground and sky turned into a blank canvas spilled with scarlet blood.

“If I did not think you deserving of torment I would kill you right now, I’m sure Four was planning to with you. But now, after that little show, I have to say death is too kind for you. You deserve something a little more… how do you say it? Vile.” His voice echoed throughout the dream, all powerful.

The noble pleaded with him, offering all sorts of sacrifices and riches that any mortal would kill to get their hands on, not a god though.

“Oh hush up will you.” Legend snapped and watched with unabashed glee as the noble tried to scream through his sewed lips.

“By the dusk of tomorrow, you will become part of those who are ‘never found’”. Legend let the dark clouds swallow up his form, and he was gone from the nightmare.

—

This took longer than I wanted, I just bought our dog this giant, squeaky carrot and she was making a whole hissy fit about it so I had to play with her while writing.

Hoped you liked this, I made up Legend’s godly form as I went. The clouds in his hair and on the tail of his robes kinda represent the fluffiness of dreams, but dreams can turn into nightmares too, so they can turn darker like when clouds fill up with water.

[thequietkid-moonie]

My status with the fandoms

Here is the list of the fandoms I write for with my currently status, how im going with the story in case you are interested in request for something specific of the story or something else

🐭 My hero academia

[ Reading the manga, until the Meta Liberation Army Arc ]

🐭 Komi-san can't communicate

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Shuumatsu no Valkyrie

[ Full the anime - Almsot at day with the manga ]

🐭 Kiss him, not me

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 A silent voice

[ Full the manga ]

🐭 Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

[ Full the anime - Almost at day with the manga ]

🐭 Kakegurui

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

[ The anime until season 4 (crystal) - Full the manga ]

🐭 Assassination Classroom

[ Full the anime - Full the manga ]

🐭 Happy Sugar Life

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Puella Magi Madoka Magica

[ Full the anime (including Rebellion) ]

🐭 Card Captor Sakura

[ Full the anime - Full the manga ]

🐭 Pumpkin Night

[ Reading the manga, until the battle at the Hirayama Clinic ]

🐭 Spy x Family

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Hamefura

[ Only the first season of the anime ]

🐭 Kaguya-sama Love is war

[ Only two season of the anime ]

🐭 The way of a House Husband

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Romantic Killer

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Your lie in April

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Ouran High School Host Club

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Kaleido Star

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 My Dress-Up Darling

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Wotakoi

[ Full the anime - Almost finish the manga ]

🐭 Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

[ Only the first season of the anime ]

🐭 Oshi no Ko

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Devilman Crybaby

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Gakuen Babysitter

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Lost Song

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Gakkou Gurashi

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Brand New Animal

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Ousama Ranking

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 One Punch Man

[ Full the anime - Reading the manga, until Monster Association Arc (final preparations, prelude to invation) ]

🐭 ReZero Starting a new life in a another world

[ Watching the second season of the anime ]

🐭 Yuri on Ice!!!

[ Full the anime ]

🐭 Mob Psycho 100

[ Only two seasons of the anime ]

🐭 Haikyuu!!

[ Only the first three season of the anime ]

🐭 Majo Taisen

[ At day with the manga ]

🐭 Danganronpa

- Trigger Happy Havoc

[ Only the anime ]

- Goodbye Despair

[ Full the game ]

- Ultra Despair Girls

[ Full the game ]

- Killing Harmony

[ Full the game ]

🐭 Omori

[ Full the game ]

🐭 Doki Doki Literature Club

[ Full the game + DLC ]

🐭 The Legend of Zelda

- Skyward Sword

[ Full the game ]

- Ocarina of Time

[ Full the game + the manga ]

- Majora's Mask

[ Full the game + the manga ]

- Link's awakening

[ Full the game ]

- Between Words

[ Full the game ]

- Beath of the wild

[ Full the game ]

🐭 NieR Replicant

[ Full the game + All the endings (including the one of the remake) ]

🐭 NieR Automata

[ Full the game + All the endings ]

🐭 Hi fi Rush

[ Full the game ]

🐭 Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

[ Watching the 4 season ]

🐭 Gravity Falls

[ Fully the show ]

[mask131]

Cold winter: Jolnir, or Santa Odin

JOLNIR, or the “Wotan Claus” theory

Category: Norse mythology, European folklore

This article won’t be about a specific character so much as about a specific theory and folkloric hypothesis… Is Odin from Norse mythology the ancestor of today’s Santa Claus?

We can start with one of Odin’s NUMEROUS names. “Jolnir”. (Normally there’s an accent on the “o” but I can’t recreate it). Jolnir has been tied with the Norse word “Yule”, due to it being often written “Jule”, “Jul” or “Jol”. Yule (or Yuletide) was the “pagan” celebration in Norse countries that was replaced by the arrival of Christmas – thus many people read “Jolnir” as a name indicating that Odin was the god of Yule (another name of Odin, Jolfadr/Jolfudr, has also been interpreted as meaning “Yule Father” – thus hinting at a “Father Christmas” connection). Yule was indeed a time associated with Odin – Yule was considered a supernatural time of the year during which magic and ghosts were all over the place. Most notably, Yule was a traditional time for the “Wild Hunt”, a spectral and supernatural hunt party said to ride through the sky during (or causing) storms. And the Wild Hunt, or the Wild Host, was said in Germany to be led by the god Wodan/Woden… who is the German version of Odin. In fact, if we got a bit more north, the Scandinavian name of the Wild Hunt, “Oskoreia” is thought to be a deformation of the term “Odin’s Hunters” OR of “Asgard-reir” (the ride of Asgard). This would tie the undead riders and ghostly hunters to the Valkyries and afterlife warriors Odin was said to collect in his “warrior paradise” as a great army for Ragnarok.

So this is the first evidence: Odin was a god very active in Yule, and leader of a supernatural group of riders flying through the sky on this date. There are similarities to the Santa Claus myth, true, and it doesn’t help that one of the customs tied to the Wild Hunt was to leave some food outside as an offering to the riders to appease their wrath. So we have something here. Even though there is also a quite ridiculous theory that claims that if Santa Claus’ sleigh has eight reindeers, it is because Odin’s mythical horse Sleipnir (said to be able to ride onto all materials and cross the universes) had eight legs. It is a fun theory, I won’t lie, and it is quite a fascinating coincidence, but I do think that it is a big stretch to try to link the two (especially since the “reindeers of Santa” is a VERY recent and American tradition, so….).  

A more serious element to be brought to the “Santa Jolnir” discussion is how Odin was said to appear in the human world as an elderly man with a long white beard (it was one of his nicknames, “Langbardr”, long-beard), dressed in a cloak and wearing either a hood or a hat. This appearance does strike a resemblance with both Santa Claus and its many European ancestors, who all tend to be elderly men with long white beards and hoods/hats/cloaks. Some legends even described Odin as going under his elderly human disguise from home to home to test the hospitality and charity of families, rewarding the ones respecting traditions and honoring him as a guest, while punishing the others – another element that can play into the whole aesthetic of the “Christmas giver” who was originally known as both a gift-giver AND a punishment-giver.

And one last, even though more tenuous element, has been brought up to the table – this time related to the tradition of the Saint Nicholas figure. Indeed many people decided to analyze the figure of Saint Nicholas/Saint Nicolas as being also an inheritance of Odin, by invoking another name of Odin sounding similar to Nicolas… “Hnikar” (sometimes simplified as “Nikar” or with the double r of Hnikarr) which for some means “instigator”, for others “overthrower/thruster”.  So "Hnikar" would be the "missing link" between those two supernatural/divine, horse-riding, hat-wearing, bearded old men of the winter.

As you can see there are some solid elements to link the “Santa Claus” figure to old Odin… and there are also really stretchy or hilarious theories. A mixed bag – but an interesting mixed bag!

- - - - - -

The theory of “Odin is Santa Claus” was notably brought to light in modern fantasy fiction thanks to the Dresden Files series which (spoiler alert) has Odin being Santa Claus. While we meet in the series Odin as a god who survived into modern day as the owner of a big security-and-weaponry company, we also later learn that he also is the wearer of the “mantle of Winter King”: in the world of the fairies, trolls, goblins and other supernatural creatures, there are two main courts/queens/kings representing the two main forces of nature, Summer and Winter, led by a fairy Queen embodying the very essence of her season, and with the existence of a non-ruling “King” representing the polar opposite of the Queen, for questions of balance. Where the Winter Queen is a cold, bitter, cruel, manipulative and cynic entity embodying the darkest and harshest side of nature, the Winter King is supposed to be a more joyful, compassionate entity, a kinder ruler embodying the wonders and beauties of winter… And as it turns out this Winter King is named “Kris Kringle” and is another of the numerous entities of Odin – modern day Santa Claus being just a popular and watered-down version of the real Kris Kringle.

It should be noted however that in the “Dresden Files” series, the “fairy mantles” (such as royal titles) are more than just identities or legal masks. They are powerful magical functions that will reshape one’s very being. As such, when Odin puts on his “Winter King mantle”, while he keeps his knowledge, memory and skills, his appearance and behavior change drastically – as he explains, while Odin and Kris Kringle share a same essence, they are still two different beings. We also know that Odin wasn’t always the Winter King, and that it is just one of the many numerous identities that he adopted in recent days as a way of surviving the downfall of Norse religion. (In fact, it is a recurrent theme of modern media taking the “Odin is Santa” theory, presenting Santa Claus as a “modern evolution” of Odin for means of survival, or a “reincarnation” of an Odin that had to die alongside his original mythology).

[erikalentz]

Pokemon Half Moon - The knights of Unova

To say that Adaman was shocked to see the Unova Dragons for the first time in Islespy Shore would be an understatement… He was already surprised to discover new foreigners, but he didn’t expect to meet a physically younger clone of Pearl Warden Ingo and two teenage kids. That said, despite their monochrome outfits and Emmet’s imposing stature (being very tall and his eyes lacking expressivity), the Diamond Clan leader wasn’t afraid of them… If anything, he was actually curious about them.

He obviously asked them who they are and how did they ended up in Hisui. Emmet, Hilbert and Hilda already have a script in mind for this kind of questions… They planned it on their first night in Islespy Shore thanks to their common knowledge of Unova’s history and mythology. As time travelers, acting skills are one of their hidden talents.

Many years ago, a long war had taken place between the worshipers of two pretenders to the throne of the kingdom of Unova (the two brothers of the legend) and one of their dragon deities: Reshiram and Zekrom, the Dragons of Ideal and Truth. Many battles took place between the two clans, fighting in the name of their beliefs where the line between morality and their faith became blurred... Until Einall, a knight from Castelia Village, inhabited by these two principles and guided by his sincere desire for unity and peace, put an end to the conflict with the help of a third legendary dragon: Kyurem. As a result, the two former princes disappeared, their clans were dissolved and Einall became the new king of the country, while the three deities fell into a deep sleep after the war ended.

Emmet/Silver, Hilbert and Hilda thus grew up in a peaceful kingdom. The two teenagers were orphans who only had their Pokemon and their own skills to survive on the streets of Nuvema Town, until the silver-haired man - an experimented knight from Nimbasa Village - took them in and taught them everything about chivalry and Pokemon battles, becoming a mentor figure to the kids. The three of them formed a powerful group of knights and trainers (this modern term actually came early in Unova unlike Hisui) to the point of being called “the Unova Dragons”, and they managed to live decently with paying their services for escort and protection - which was common for independent knights nonaffiliated to the king’s army -. One day, they were invited to a travel in boat to visit Kanto, but the embarkation was caught into a storm and got destroyed by waves and water Pokemon on the area. The Unova Dragons thankfully avoided drowning thanks to a safety boat with survival material and their Pokemon who guided them through the ocean, traveling for a while until they find a land.

Coincidentally, Adaman noticed that a storm indeed happened in Hisui a few days ago, giving credence to the heroes’ words. After hearing their tale, the Diamond Clan leader felt glad that the group managed to survive that incident in sea and wanted them to be safe in this new foreign region for them… So he proposed them to stay in his clan so they can have a shelter. He didn’t even asked them to be members of it since he understands that if their country suffered the consequences of war because of clans, the Unova Dragons wouldn’t want to join one even in another land.

Emmet, Hilbert and Hilda, at first surprised, look at each other for a moment while thinking about this idea… For the short time they talk with Adaman, they can tell he’s a good guy. It’s also not so bad that a hisuian like him is aware of their presence so early, since they wouldn’t be confused for dangerous enemies or disguised Zoroark by less open-minded people. Moreover, even if they’re more than capable to defend themselves against wild Pokemon, it would be best to stay somewhere where there’s the lowest chance to get attacked by one in their sleep. So they accepted Adaman’s deal and can stay in the Diamond clan as guests.

EXTRA TIPS:

Why the trio didn’t tell Adaman that they have Reshiram, Zekrom and Kyurem with them? Simple: they don’t want anyone to know it. While the dragons retain their immense powers due to being from the future - a time where all legendary Pokemon are known by everyone in the world -, they remain foreign deities in a country in old times when the strength of the local divinities are amplified by the faith people have in them in their original territory. Moreover, they are in the land of Dialga, Palkia, Giratina and Arceus, God itself. Nothing forbids them to fight alongside their heroes, but Arceus would immediately notice their presence if they directly intervene. To avoid causing problems to the Unova Dragons’ mission, they advices them to only call them in battle in case of extreme emergency.

[transskywardsword]

Wilds, or Lefty, the Hero of the Wilds

[image description: a digital picture of Wilds, from Heroes Gate. He is a smiling young man in his early 20's with dirty blonde messy hair that falls to his shoulders, burn scars across his tanned face, and multiple dangling Zonai-style earrings on each ear. He is dressed in the Champion leathers from Tears of the Kingdom and has green fabric resembling the archaic tunic from TOTK draped over one shoulder and tucked into his belt. His right arm has been replaced with the same prosthetic as TOTK, and he wears two-toned brown pants and leather boots. He has the cloak from the glide set, worn with the hood down and dyed grey. He stands on a military green background with 'Wilds' and 'Hero of the Wilds' written next to him in dark red in the official triforce font. End description]

Age: 22 post Tears of the Kingdom. He was 17 when he woke from the Shrine of Resurrection, and five years passed between his adventures. It has only been a few months since the end of his last adventure.

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality: Bisexual

Nickname: 'Lefty', in regards to his missing arm, which was started by Legend and Wilds absolutely loves.

About: Wilds is a kind, though awkward, young man with a strong silly streak hidden well under his lack of expression. He is completely mute; pre-Calamity it was severe selective mutism, but after waking from the Shrine of Resurrection he found himself barely able to talk without pain. He is fluent in dozens of kinds of signs and many languages. but prefers to communicate the most with his Sheikah slate, which he keeps on him at all times. He is an amputee, having never recovered his arm after freeing Zelda, and continues to have Rauru's arm as a prosthetic. He is very comfortable with his new arm, though he experiences debilitating phantom pain at times. During those days, he feels safest curled up with his Zelda, burying his face in her hair and clinging to her as tightly as he can.

Wilds took a little over a year to complete his first adventure. He was terrified of meeting Zelda without all his memories and spent a great deal of time trying to find them, and had to spend a lot of time relearning to be a person. He took his time trying to become stable, but also dragged his feet out of fear of what Zelda would think of him once he saved her-- he mostly doesn't feel guilty for how long he took to destory the Calamity most days, as he knows he needed the time. During his second adventure, on the other hand, he moved as quickly as he could, rushing to find Zelda as fast as possible and driving himself to the brink with survivor's guilt and self-hatred each time an hour passed without defeating Ganondorf.

Wilds is very open about his first adventure, his relationship with Zelda, and his memory problems, but is very hush-hush surrounding his second adventure and what his life was like pre-Calamity. He has done a great job of leading the other heroes to think they know everything about him when, in reality, they know next to nothing. Era is the most clued into just how much Wilds is, and how good Wilds is at, lying. As an army man with many secrets of his own, he recognizes Wilds' secrecy, but respects it.

Wilds memories are rarely put together, cinematic events, but instead flashes of sight, smell, taste, touch… splashes of color, strong emotion, the feeling of a hand in his, pain, laughter, silence—it is very rarely a solid event. However, that doesn’t mean that those monumental flashbacks don’t happen. They usually happen with deeply emotional or impactful events. Even then, there are often blank spaces in these kinds of memories; for example, Wilds can perfectly remember teaching his little sister to ride bareback but cannot remember her name or her face. He thinks she might have been blonde? He tries not to think about her or his parents; he doesn’t consider them family, even if they are in his memories, instead thinking of Zelda, Impa, Paya, and the Sages as family. He doesn’t wear his Champion's tunic but does wear the Champion's leathers Zelda made for him and treasures them dearly. He always wears his hair down. During the five years after sealing the Calamity, he rarely used the Master Sword, preferring knight and soldier weapons, but after all the suffering Zelda went through to save the Master Sword, he is rarely without it. It is strange having two Master Swords in the group, especially since the connection SKy has with his and FI is nothing like Wilds. Wilds actually rarely fights with the blade, keeping it in the slate for safekeeping.

While most memories come to Wilds subtly, usually through streams of consciousness, some of them that are particularly emotionally charged leave him paralyzed and confused, which has proven dangerous in the past. Wilds often feels that he is a burden because of this—a real hero doesn’t black out for five minutes mid fight. The group all push back against this, insisting that they don’t care in the slightest about having to protect Wilds if something goes wrong, but that just makes Wilds feel worse. He once was seriously injured in a fight after blacking out, and how has been training to try and continue moving on muscle memory when a particularly bad memory strikes. Wilds has gotten better at it, but it alarms his friends. Seeing him fight while also completely unaware of the world around him is terrifying and makes them very nervous. Once, he turned his blade on Twilight when the man tried to ease him out of ‘battle mode’ in the middle of a memory, almost seriously injuring him. Wilds didn’t communicate for days out of shame, and Twilight, while he has long since forgiven him, will never forget the event.

Wilds' fighting style is bizarre. He fights with a combination of muscle memory from being classically trained in his past life and fighting with a determined aggression that came from teaching himself how to survive in the wild. He fights dirty and rough, using teeth and nails and pulling hair, and it has kept him alive in a world filled with Yiga, who fight just as dirty. Having not used many items in his adventure, it worries him to see how heavily the others depend on them, feeling they are fickle and unlikely to help in a fight. Despite this wariness towards items, he depends heavily on his slate and arm.

Wilds has a terrible sense of direction, but it doesn’t bother him. He always knows where he is, how places connect, and where he wants to go is, he just can’t seem to make himself go as the crow flies from point a to point b. He is distracted by the world around him, enamored by the wild and its creatures. A simple trip that is an hour on the path will take him hours to finish, weaving in and out of areas, wherever his heart so takes him. He is a friend of Koroks, being able to speak their language, and loves to play with them. He has a knack for finding hot springs and caves, and never needs his map. He loves to gather over hunt, and while he does eat meat, and eats it often, would prefer veggies if given a chance to choose.

Wilds is quiet, but funny, and gets along well with others easily. He may sit back during a  conversation but is able to stop the talking it its tracks and send everyone into hysterics with a well-timed joke. He is nonverbal and uses a text-to-speech function on his Sheikah slate to communicate. He surprisingly trusting, though knows better than to let his guard down with the Yiga being a constant threat. He loves side quests and making people happy. He just wants Hyrule to be a better place than the one he found.

Wilds loves cooking, but especially experimenting with new flavors and ingredients. He often travels miles to see Sidon or Riju just to give them a taste of a new recipe he put together just for them. He also enjoys collecting things, namely pretty rocks, interestingly shaped sticks, leaves and flowers that he presses and dries himself, and jewelry. He loves jewelry, and greatly enjoys learning about the cultures of Hyrule, as it makes him feel closer to his friends. He loves giving gifts, be it trinkets, food, handmade necklaces, or acts of service. He feels indebted to the people of Hyrule for housing him when he was so lost and alone upon waking up and wants to return the favor.

Wilds is deeply religious and fascinated by the stories of the Heroes that came before him. He is a history buff and can rattle off dates and facts with extreme excitement. He is fiercely protective of his loved ones, to the point of being near feral, and would gladly, gladly die for someone, even a stranger, which alarms those around him. He’s not suicidal, he just… doesn’t value himself. He doesn’t fight with a shield, and while he prefers a broadsword, isn’t afraid to get close up and dirty during fights, leading to significant injuries to both parties. He’s blocked a blade with his arm before and would do it again. He sees Mipha’s grace as the solution to everything and uses it in a way that would have alarmed her to see.

Relationships:

            Zelda: Zelda and Wilds’ relationship is intense and codependent. They were close friends after the sealing of the Calamity, but after Zelda's transformation, Wilds became beyond clingy. They both did; it was far from one-sided. As Wilds' very best friend and closest confidant, as well as the love of his life, Wilds has, and would again, die for Zelda. His near eagerness to put his life second to her alarms Zelda and it is one of the few things they fight over. They share a bed each night, often spent holding the other through night terrors, and Wilds cooks her a meal each morning. She's been helping Wilds with his math and letters, as Wilds' early education is lacking. After pulling the Master Sword, his father, the Captian of the Royal Guard, pulled him out of school and had him focus on his training instead of his education. Zelda is working to fill the gaps and takes great joy in watching WIlds light up reading new history books for the first time. The two take great joy in sneaking into the castle library to find him new books on Hyrule's history and the history of the Heroes. Wilds is a part of the child timeline, and having the chance to meet other people from other timelines has been amazing. He has continued to research the Zonai with Zelda, though sometimes researching becomes too painful and they have to take a cuddle break. Wilds loves Zelda as a friend practically more than life itself. She was his first kiss (though he was not hers) and it took time for them to actually fall in love, as for a long time they feared they were talking advantage of the other because of Wilds' memory. Now, they are smitten with each other and while romantic PDA is rare, they are very physical with each other, holding hands or climbing over one another. They try to keep their relationship a secret, but everyone knows, and Lana's chosen tease him mercilessly over Zelda, thinking it is a crush and not a years long relationship.

           Champions: Wilds does not hesitate to use his Champion abilities. He feels a connection with the Champion’s he cannot deny and wishes to live life in a way they would approve of. He was determined to avenge them during his fight against Ganon and the Blights, and cherishes the gifts they gave him. When he prays, it is to them first. He venerates them, asks for their blessings, and goes to them for guidance. He remembers little of them but holds what he does remember dear, especially his memory of Mipha. He cherishes his memories of Mipha, partially out of thankfulness for all she has done for him, but also out of a need to relate to Sidon and his childhood memories. He thinks very fondly of her and wishes he could do more to make her comfortable after death

            Sidon: Sidon is Wilds’ closest friend. The two are inseparable, and while Wilds does have a home in Hateno, he spends most of his time when settled down in Zora’s Domain. Wilds knows he loved Mipha to some degree and feels guilty being friends with Sidon at times because of that. Sidon is one of the only ones who know most, if not all, of Wilds’ feelings about his past and his memory and knows how to both give the man space when he needs it and give him the perfect support he needs. Sidon thinks he is far too reckless and constantly pushes Wilds to rest, something he refuses to do. The Zora always seems to know exactly how to help with nightmares, and it makes Wilds wonder just how much of the Calamity and attack on Zora’s Domain Sidon remembers from his childhood.

            Twilight: Ever since finding out the wolf that kept him company during his adventure was Twilight—though how, neither of them are sure. It is in Twilight’s future, and they both know by now that time travel is a crazy thing. Wilds has wanted to learn everything about the older man. But Twilight is deeply concerned as to why he went an entire adventure in wolf form and is frankly scared to befriend Wilds, as pathetic as it makes him feel. Twilight avoids Wilds, and it hurts. Slowly, they are beginning to connect, but it is not easy for either of them.

            Waker + Quartet: Waker and Quartet are Wild’s closest friends out of the group. Waker and Quartet are carefree, cocky, and goofy, and their excited energy brings out a carefreeness and immaturinty that others rarely see in Wilds. Wilds’ quiet self vanishes around these two, replaced with laughter and pranks. The two bring out Wilds' flighty nature, especially Waker, who loves to explore together. Waker has never seen so many open fields and mountains and forests as there are in Wilds Hyrule, and Wilds loves the culture of sailing and piracy. Unknown to Wilds, he grew up in Faron along the coast, so his love of Waker’s world comes from his very roots. They often run off together, splitting off from the group and scampering away at night to explore the world around them. The two of them love koroks, and Waker was ecstatic to find they exist in Wilds’ world as well. Waker is good at filling Wilds’ comfortable silences.

The three of them are absolute menaces and drive Twilight up a wall, though he loves the three of them dearly.. Wilds is quieter, but Quartet brings out a vicious sort of fun-loving in him. While Wilds was already skilled at sweet talking his way into getting what he wants, Waker taught him how to pickpocket, and Wilds and Quartet are infamous pranksters. The three of them are a chaotic force not to be messed with, with their high energy and mischief bouncing off each other. The three can talk for hours, but Wilds still doesn’t consider himself genuinely honest with the two, and it leaves him feeling a great amount of guilt. He’s just scared of being judged for his thoughts and feelings regarding the past.

Items: Wilds’ most important possession is his Sheikah slate, most importantly because he uses it as his primary means of communication. While Wilds can sign, he finds it tedious, and he can technically speak, but finds it deeply, deeply painful. He is almost entirely nonverbal, and when he does speak his voice is soft and scratchy. Speaking is saved for emergencies and takes a lot out of him. Instead, to communicate he uses his Sheikah Slate’s text-to-speech function as a speaking device. The Slate uses a robotic, chiming, feminine voice, which Wilds’ is surprised he doesn’t mind. Wilds is transgender and insists very, very strongly on being perceived as a man, so having a feminine voice speak for him was something he thought would upset him. It doesn’t.

Wilds relies heavily on the runes on his Slate, and love, love, loves photography, but rarely, if ever, uses the map. He rarely travels by Shrine either. He loves bows, and his Slate is filled with them, but the Great Eagle Bow is his bow of choice. He fights often with the Champion’s weapons but takes careful, careful care of them and refuses to let them break. When fighting with a sword, he will use whatever he finds on hand in his Slate (he is quite the weapon hoarder) but when fighting serious threats, uses the Scimitar of the Seven. He is also a fan of Yiga weapons and finds using them to be quite funny. He tried to give the Lightscale Trident to Sidon, who adamantly refused it, and now keeps it on him at all times. He is a borderline hoarder and always has dozens upon dozens of any supply or material the group may need.

Positives: Wilds is quiet but wickedly funny, fiercely loyal, and wants desperately to make and keep friends. He wants to create a new life for himself with his own wants, likes, and experiences, and is ecstatic for every new thing he tries.  He finds cooking deeply soothing and loves helping others—he’s the side quest king. He cares greatly for others and is unlikely to hold a grudge, though his difficulty with the concept of time makes it hard for him to be sure if a situation is worth holding a grudge over.

Negative: Wilds is very clingy and overprotective, especially towards people he is scared of losing-- Zelda, the Sages, and Waker and Quartet. It can get borderline obnoxious and can cause tension between his loved ones. His loved ones try to be understanding, especially Zelda and Sidon, but even they have their limits. Wilds has little to no self-preservation is a chronic injury hider as he feels he has had enough help to last a lifetime. He insists the others do self-care but rarely sleeps, feeling he has to earn sleep. He is incredibly stubborn and doesn't listen to instructions well, causing a great deal of tension during battle. He skulks when told to shape up, which just makes everyone miserable.