#link and urbosa were the only ones who loved her for who she was

[villanelleskiss]

i’m forever going crazy over the fact that Zelda used to think she was nothing as a person bc she couldn’t awaken her sealing power when every eye of hyrule was on her and she couldn’t protect them and her own father even had her believing that. so when she met sonia and rauru (even true with urbosa) and they gave her the guidance and comfort she needed to freely use her powers on her own schedule that when she was able to blast away those moldugas with ease that she was in disbelief of herself bc she didn’t think she was capable of doing that. so when she made the choice to turn into a dragon to restore the master sword, it was her final message to herself and the future of hyrule that she wouldn’t let herself be nothing (like she was always told she was) by that final selfless act of love for her kingdom and im a mess about it

[noirandchocolate]

All the Champions’ demises at the Blights’ hands are tragic, but Mipha’s is forever the one that fucks me up the most when we play BotW because out of the group she is the only one that, one hundred years after the Calamity, should not be dead.

By the time that the game is taking place, Urbosa, Revali, and Daruk would have passed of old age even if things had gone right. But Mipha would still be in her early prime. Not even Queen of the Zora yet! Now that’s not to say her death is more compelling simply because she had a longer possible lifespan ahead of her. All of our companions were taken unjustly, too soon. No, what destroys me about her story every time is that…

Mipha has living family and friends.

The others are celebrated among their people, but only the Zora explicitly have citizens who personally remember their Champion. While Daruk has an entire mountain carved in his likeness, Revali has many admirers among the Rito, and Urbosa’s people speak her name with reverence, Mipha is still actively mourned. By people who knew and loved her.

Her now elderly teachers, who remain angry over her untimely loss. Her young-adult peers who recall playing with her and Link as kids. Sidon, who still wears the whistle he had as a child and who, after you complete the Vah Ruta mission, never tears himself from the plaza before his sister’s statue. King Dorephan, who asks Link about Mipha’s fate, because even after a century, he never fully gave up hope that she might be trapped, but alive.

Mipha should not be dead, but she is, and her death remains a fresh wound.

And she knows it, too. And that’s why, even when her spirit is freed, unlike with the others her story has such an air of melancholy amid the eventual triumph. She looks down upon the Domain from atop Vah Ruta, and…

“Father…are you well, I wonder? I want you to know... I have always followed my heart. I'm sorry I made you worry... I wish I could see you again... Even just once more..."

She could be there. With her father, with her little brother who is so big now, and who is trying so so hard to be like his sister. But she’s not. And she is terribly missed in a way that’s unique among the Champions.

God, it just rips my heart to pieces.

[spicyicetea]

My Forest spirit

A legend of Zelda BOTW/TOTK Yandere x Reader. This is obviously cannon divergent. Fem!Y/N is short and Curvy in this, and is often described with long hair. This story will contain NSFW!scenes, violence and profanity. MDNI

Next Chapter

Chapter 1: My knight in shinning armour

“Yahaha you found me!” A little Korok laughed as I stared down at him.

My ears twitched excitedly as it jumped up into my arms. The little forest spirits loved me. They always have. I grew up in this forest after my mother left me here. The clothes on my back are woven from fronds the Koroks brought me and I just ran around barefoot. I’ve only ever seen anyone like me once. He wore a cloak and was muttering about stopping the “princess” whatever that means.

A group of Koroks ran past my legs as the shaking of maracas grew closer. Their behaviour startled me, they shouldn’t fear Hestu… they’re a close friend of all of us.

“Sister Y/N! There are people, we must hide!”

I was dragged behind a tree as Hestu’s humming grew louder. Strange clacking noises grew closer, as well as other voices.

“I can’t believe you of all people will wield the Master Sword!”

“Revali ease up on Link, he’s a wonderful knight to me!” A feminine voice called back.

My eyes widened at the voices! No one ever enters the forest, what are they here for? What is a… Master Sword? I watched from behind the tree and the silent man in the middle of the group glanced in my direction. My large frond mask was still covering my face, so I scurried behind the tree with the other Koroks. They continued further into the forest and I ran between trees to watch them. As they approached the centre of the forest, I realised what they had come for, the strange thing in the ground. So that’s what it’s called, the Master Sword.

The silent one stepped forward and grabbed the hilt of the ancient blade. He grunted in pain as he pulled it up out of the ground and held it above his head proudly. I watched him from atop a tree, eyes wide and excited. Based off of Hestu’s cheers, this must be an amazing accomplishment. I should cheer too.

I clapped excitedly as the Koroks beside me seemed confused but then joined me in celebration. The group gasped and looked up to where we were, drawing these strange objects from their backs. Hestu gasped and ran in front of them.

“NO NO! Weapons down, you can’t hurt Sister Y/N!”

Weapons? My eyes widened beneath the mask as I slid to be hidden by the leaves. One of the women step forward, her tan skin and deep crimson hair complimented by the deep green of the Forrest. She placed her curved blade on the floor and held her hands up beside her head.

“Please don’t run dear, we had no idea you were friend not foe. The war has everyone incredibly stressed.”

“War?” I mutter, poking my head out of the leaves.

Hestu looks up at me and laughs gesturing for me to jump down. I slid off of the tree and landed on the stone beside Hestu. They shake their maracas happily as I smile at them beneath my mask. The woman who had spoken to me seemed shocked, I’m unsure why though.

“Ah… my apologies for staring, that was rude. My name is Urbosa, I’m assuming you’re Y/N.”

I nod as a few Koroks come and stand beside my legs, watching the group closely and protectively.

“This is Sister Y/N! She’s a spirit of the forest like the Koroks and I!” Hestu happily said.

“Sister? She’s clearly not anything like you all! She looks like your average Hylian!” The strange bird person yelled.

The large man behind him slapped him on the back. He winced but stayed quiet as the blonde woman stepped forward.

“I’m so sorry for us startling you Y/N. We had to retrieve the Master Sword to help win the war against Ganon. Do you… live here? What are you wearing?”

“Fronds.”

“Ah, so you do speak. I suppose you’re like Link then, he only speaks around his friends.”

“Link?”

“Yes, he’s my knight, the one with the Master Sword.”

“Master… I used to..”

“Did you guard the sword?” She asked.

“No, I used to use the zappies it made to start my campfires! How am I meant to start fires now?” I frown, jabbing the man beside her.

He just pulled a strange rock from his pocket and place it in my hand. I raised a brow and he pulled out a second, striking it against the stone on the floor and lighting a stick on fire nearby.

“Whoa! Pocket campfire! Fair trade fair trade!” I hold the rock in my hand in wonder, removing my mask to get a better look at it.

The man before me just stared straight at my face before grabbing my wrist.

“Huh? You can’t have it back, it was a trade!”

He just grunted and pulled me up off the ground and held me over his shoulder. One hand held the Master Sword while the other rested on the bump of my behind. The breeze ran right through me as his hand rhythmically squeezed. Is this how people interact? The Koroks don’t really have hands… maybe it’s to make sure I wouldn’t fall.

“Link! That’s inappropriate!”

“Hyaa!” He began to run, his grip becoming tighter as began to slip and held him in fear.

“LINK!”

“SISTER Y/N! Awww, maybe it’s good she sees the outside world, look after her.” Hestu sighed.

“Of course, we will,” Urbosa answered. Running to catch up with the others who were chasing Link.

New Yandere gained, Link.

Hey look at you, you managed to capture the knights heart! Now time for some facts about your new Yandere. (basically head cannons)

It's no surprise that Link is incredibly protective over you, he would let Zelda die if it meant he could ensure your safety.

He's also very physically affectionate. He must always have at least one hand on you and when he hasn't for a long time... He tends to get very handsy.

He gives you plenty of kisses the moment that people stop looking. If he feels like someone is moving in on his “territory” he will just begin groping you from behind until they get the message.

[imababblekat]

Botw Champions X Knight Reader; HC’s

Anon Request, “Hey can I get the BOTW champions with a bad ass, sorta like link knight. Like they don't really have any affiliation with anyone they just somehow started helping Zelda after she said they should. Also Love your writing and thanks!”

~Characters Chosen For Request:

Link, Revali, Urbosa

~xXx~

Link:

Link doesn’t question where or how you were knighted, but he is curious to know your skill set

at the end of the day, as long as you’re not an enemy he’s pretty chill with you and actually appreciates the extra support in helping protect Hyrule

definitely becomes your personal trainer and in turn real enjoys learning moves from you he doesn’t know

likes having someone who can understand him, and when the two of you become closer he’ll often confide in you about things he often keeps to himself since becoming Zelda’s appointed Knight and Hyrules Champion

understands how skilled you are in combat but can’t help still feeling worried or fearful of you being put in danger

has to do a self reboot when he sees you trying on his armor for shits and giggles, you not realizing that you basically made his brain go haywire 

Revali:

first impression is somewhere along the lines of “Oh great. Another one.”

absolutely picks on you like he does with Link; like how can you be a Knight if you’re not part of any army?

only difference is that his rivalry with you vs with Link starts to turn into something more of the fun sort, like a friendly competition of who’s the better warrior

the more time passes, the more he finds himself impressed by not just your skills but your personality as well

he quite enjoys having someone who can quip back at him and finds the fire in your eyes somewhat adorable, not that he’d ever admit aloud

100% teaches you how to use a bow instead of just a sword; tells you he only does this because it would make your fights more even, totally not because he actually likes spending time with you or anything, don’t be ridiculous!

Urbosa:

finds it very charming your dedication to protect others despite not being apart of any corpse

she finds your skills admirable and after some time of observing, ask if you’d like to join her army

it’s a huge honor, no matter your gender, and she promises to make you an even more skilled knight under her wing than before

don’t expect her to go easy on you though just because she likes you, if anything she might even train you harder than others

it’s not to be an ass, it’s because she can see the potential that you possess as well as wanting to make sure you’re always safe incase she’s not there to help fight alongside you

Urbosa would absolutely craft you personal armor with different gems to aid you in your adventures

she thinks it’s very adorable when you offer to show her some of your own moves, ya know being an extremely skilled girl boss and all, but would never turn down spending such time with you at the end of the day

~xXx~

[michpat6]

mipha’s happy ending is her death.

had she managed to survive waterblight ganon, she would have been the last champion standing. there would only be one divine beast firing at calamity ganon, but without link there with the master sword to do any real damage she’s just making it easier for zelda to snatch him up and put him on a divine leash, and who’s to say the other three beasts wouldn’t turn on Ruta in an attempt to snuff out the one that got away?

but if she does make it out, leaving Ruta on standby or whatever makes sense, link is dead. zelda is trapped in the castle. the other three champions are ghosts bound to cold, mechanical tombs that do nothing but wait for new victims. she can’t kill three blights if she barely survived her own. she can’t possibly kill the calamity.

so mipha goes back to Zora’s domain, hugs her father and Sidon, and hears from the Sheikah scientists that the Hero has been placed in that cave they found on the Great Plateau, that it’s going to heal him better than her Grace ever could, and that he’s going to wake up soon and retrieve his sword and save all of Hyrule.

mipha holds sidon closer and mipha waits, because she knows link, she loves link, and he always comes back. he never leaves a quest unfinished.

the fields burn, more people die from the Guardian attacks, lynels armed with shock arrows take over most of the woods near Zora’s Domain, and mipha waits.

and waits.

and waits.

a hundred years pass. sidon has grown so tall, even taller than her, and she wonders if the sheikah scientists were lying. that woman, Purah, hasn’t contacted her in ages, and the last she heard of Impa, she could barely walk a few feet without needing her cane.

a lynel has made its home atop shatterback point. mipha would feel more confident in taking it down if her Grace wasn’t waning after a century of use healing anyone that comes to her, and if she didn’t still feel the phantom pains of Waterblight’s spear as it pierced her torso. she’s too afraid to pick up a trident, now, because all she can hear is her own screams echoing off of Vah Ruta’s walls.

then link walks right into the throne room and asks after Divine Beast Vah Ruta. why doesn’t he have to worry about this one? why isn’t it infected like the others?

mipha runs up and engulfs him in a hug, tears streaming down her face, and when she pulls back to look at him there’s no recognition in his eyes.

he doesn’t remember her. he doesn’t remember anything. all he knows is that he has to save his princess.

mipha has known that the two of them were meant to be together since she was born. she grew up hearing the legends of hyrule’s royal family, she knows how intertwined their souls are, but still she held out hope that maybe once, just this once, a different princess would catch his eye, maybe one that wields a trident instead of a Sheikah Slate.

but now he doesn’t know anything about that. he doesn’t know anything about anyone, and still the only thing on his mind is zelda. mipha’s happy for her friend, she’s happy that zelda is the one who gets to have him if it isn’t her, that zelda has found someone so devoted, but it doesn’t stop the ugly, jealous part of her from rearing it’s head just a little bit.

she points link in the direction of shatterback point, and watches his back disappear around the corner. he comes back thirty minutes later with twenty shock arrows and a new sword and shield.

he’s going to gerudo town next, he tells sidon, because boys will be boys and the two of them have bonded over the week he’s spent in the Domain. he wants to learn more about Urbosa, and more about Zelda by extension. Those two were close, weren’t they?

mipha wishes him luck. he leaves. so she waits.

and waits.

and waits.

a month later, a message from the Chief of Gerudo Town reaches Zora’s Domain. the Hero of Hyrule went inside of Divine Beast Vah Naboris two weeks ago, and he hasn’t come out. their scouts can confirm that Naboris is back on the prowl, kicking up a sandstorm as it searches for its next challenger.

without mipha’s power to give, without her Grace to guide him, without her to save him, link has died again. they can’t afford to put him back in the shrine of resurrection, who knows how long he’ll sleep this time, and Zelda’s power is growing weaker by the day-

if only she hadn’t survived, mipha thinks. if only she were a ghost, too, and if only she could offer him her Grace so he would survive Thunderblight Ganon. At least he would be alive. At least she would be happy to stitch his skin back together and shove the life back into his body for as long as he needs her to, it would be her pleasure.

mipha’s death is her happy ending, because at least in death she gets to stay by link’s side.

[mytemporarycomfort]

Champions partaking in some special herbs (Champions x Reader)

A/N: I really hope this cheers someone up.

Champions x reader

Summary: Imagine getting high off your butt with the champions.

Link

Feral goblin energy or slow sweet cuddling night. No in between.

Imagine, the usual goblin energy, but amp it up by 10. Pranks everyone. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

He wont drag you into it since he can't really focus as usual, but you're not to far back laughing with him and helping him out.

There is no stealth aspect to this pranking time of yours. You guys do what you want and people hope they're not on the list.

When he's all soft, he clings on to you like a koala.

you're the softest things he has his hands on so you're not going anywhere, and you don't mind.

when you run your hands through his hair in this state, he melts like ice cream.

Tickle him. I dare you. (He head butts you in retaliation. BY ACCIDENT!)

neck kisses are his favorite when he's like this

Holds you so close and taps your palm three times, a secret little signal for "I love you"

Urbosa

Bath? Bath but make is sensual.

Are you two gonna start making out? In the bath? Maybe. Who knows.

She will absolutely dance with you. She just holds you close and spin with you.

You have never heard her giggle so much, it was so different. It was refreshing. It was something you will never ever forget, or that's what you tell yourself now.

She smells so good. Has she always smelled like flowers?

Becomes more wild in the best way possible.

Gets both of you up to Naboris somehow to go star gazing. Tis lady can be so extra for you if you'll allow it.

"My most beautiful treasure"

Mipha

She lets herself sink in the water and just vibe.

She becomes like such a blush-y school girl around you.

Wants to make out with you constantly. ope

Please stay in your rooms when you're both high, that's what you learnt.

Cuddles you so much.

nearly cries because she didn't believe you two were a thing at first.

You might accidentally lose her at some point. You wonder around and found her in some shallow water, just vibing.

Stares dreamily up at you.

"Youre the best thing that has happened to me"

Revali

You know that picture of a bird laying on their back, legs up? That.

The smile on his face is of pure giddy-ness. Child-like.

He will snuggle you. No doubt. Can't change my mind. He just sits in his hammock with you and rubs his stupid little face on yours.

He chirps!

He will start taking some of the loose feather off of himself and start braiding it into your hair if you have long enough hair.

If you don't, he'll just start putting it on your clothes.

He looks at you like you're made out of starlight.

He lets a lot of his emotions out with you when you two are like this.

He says the "L" word right in front of you without checking if anyone else is around.

Super sassy bird boyfriend and cute giggly partner.

"Please don't ever leave me"

Daruk

Please be careful!

How did you manage to get him high?

He's not the safest to be around when he's like this, not gonna lie. He's not only strong, but so clumsy now!

He's a hoot to be around now, so much more than before.

He....um... accidentally threw you off a cliff one time. Luckily you were caught. You were also really high so you just laughed it off.

There was a long discussion afterwards when you two came out of it.

He just wants to hold you when he's high as balls.

when he starts to settle down, he just lays on his back staring up as you're cuddled on his chest.

"I'm gonna keep you safe no matter what."

[neverchecking]

You know I realized something about aoc zelda. Something that unnerved me. Gave me mixed feelings. She knew. Thanks to terako She knew about the future. She KNEW the champions were most likely going to die. But she NEVER told them. Maybe she did off screen, but it was never hinted that they knew. Never implied they KNEW they were most likely never going to come back alive. If miphas dad knew his daughter was not coming back he would never agree. And zelda probably knew that but didn't tell. And not just the champions. There's a high possibility that the hyrule army didn't know they failed in the future either and were going to die, they would never see their loved ones again, only zelda, the king, impa, purah, and link, were probably the only ones who knew. Link was most likely ordered to keep quite about it by order of the royal family. Could you imagine the guilt link must of felt keeping something like that from people? From his comrades? His family? From MIPHA? It's gotta be agony. I know it was probably to avoid public panic but still! And I don't think even when the war was over the royal family ever told everyone they knew. Could you imagine the betrayal people would feel if they found out the royal family kept something this serious from them? That they sent them like lambs to the slaughter? The champions I don't think would be too upset about dying, cuz they knew there was a chance they weren't going to survive, they were more than WILLING to die for their home. I think they would be upset that they didn't trust them enough to tell them that it was a suicide mission, i think even urbosa would be hurt by zelda for not telling them. That they had no chance of survival. That they never got a chance to get any affairs in order, make sure they didn't leave any regrets, like urbosa making sure she had a replacement so her people wouldn't be without a cheif, or daruk having someone to take care of his family cuz yunobo is his decencent so there's a chance he might of had a kid. I don't really know if revali had any family, but still giving the people he cared about a heads up that he wasn't coming back would of made it a little less painful. And miphas dad and brother, her people, that she loved them. The hyrule family would DEFINITELY lose trust from the other races and even their own people. And not just them but the sheika would probably get some hate too cuz they also kept this secret. Zelda knew, but told NO ONE. Sorry about the rant feel free to ignore

Nah, nah, you guys are always so quick to run off ;-;

You bring up several good points anon, and this is precisely why Aaliyah's backstory is the way that it is. Because, like, there had to have been some corruption in the system somewhere. Like there's no other way. I can't believe otherwise.

I just know the champions would've been disappointed in the very least. Because, like you said, they had other responsibilities. Urbosa had Gerudo town. Daruk had Goron city. Revali led an army. Mipha was the princess to the Zora's domain. They had things to live for.

It's such an interesting topic to me, the politics behind AoC, because there had to be a ton at play that entire time. Especially when things where getting dicey.

[redisaid]

The World Will Only Darken Without Candlelight - Chapter 4

Girls like me don’t cry

Ao3 is back and I only had to hold onto this one for a few hours. That’s good, because the second I have to keep anything longer, I will edit it to an unrecognizable death. 

Also yay for Ao3! Also apparently it’s Zelink week, so that’s fun, though this isn’t following any sort of prompt for that.

7467 Words

Read it on Ao3!

Tell me that you’ll keep me safe and never let this fade away I'm hiding out so they don't see this part of me Girls like me don't cry Girls like me pretend we don't cry

Link lived in a bus.

Link lived in a fucking bus in the parking lot. An old school bus painted with a geometric sort of motif of forests and mountains.

Converted, quite nicely, Zelda might add, into a tiny house on wheels in which she now sat, screaming into her cracked phone. “Why are both you and Urbosa telling me not to call the cops? I was just assaulted, dad! Link is still over here bleeding all over his…bus.”

Of course he lived in a bus.

Rhoam’s voice on the other end of the line was still groggy with sleep. He hadn’t bothered to turn off the TV he'd fallen asleep in front of, which Zelda could still hear blaring a cable news station in the background.

“Just trust me on this,” he begged of her. “Trust me and stay with Link until I’m there. I’m getting my keys now and I’ll be there as soon as I can, princess.”

“Are you going to fucking explain what’s going on?” Zelda shouted back at him.

She wasn’t all that confident she could convince her phone to make another call after this one. The cracked screen was flickering in and out, and the touch controls were hit or miss.

She’d wasted that first call on Urbosa, who had first apologized for letting her leave alone, then told Zelda not to call the cops, call her dad, and call her back immediately if he didn’t answer.

And now this.

“Stay with Link,” her father repeated. “I’m on my way.”

He hung up on her. Or her phone stopped working. Zelda couldn’t be sure, but it took every ounce of control she had not to throw it clear across the bus. Maybe at Link, who was standing between her and the door, paper towel held to the worst of his bloodied knees.

But, no, not at him. He’d just saved her fucking life. The mute, short, horse girl of a man who lived in a bus.

At least it was a nice bus. Very cozy. All finished out with what seemed like recycled wood and clean, soft white paint. Something that an Instagram van-lifer would dream of.

Zelda sat at a little dinette of that same recycled wood, on a bench softened by dark green upholstery cushions.

“Here. It’s okay. Come with me,” had been the second thing Link ever said to her.

And, “Do you, uh, want a water or something?” was the third as he noticed her call had ended and she was now the one staring at him.

“You live in a bus,” she observed.

“Yup,” he answered.

“You just saved my life,” Zelda continued stating the obvious, hoping that repeating it would make the words make more sense to her.

“I guess?” was Link’s answer.

“You can talk.”

“Yup.”

“And you’re a wonderful conversationalist,” she noted. “Full of details. Fuck. I’m sorry. You don’t deserve how I’m talking to you right now. How I have talked to you. I’m sorry for everything.”

“It’s okay.”

It was not okay. Someone just held a knife to her throat and tried to zip tie her hands. Link had just presumably seen this across the parking lot, run out of his lovely bus home in just a pair of shorts, and tackled that someone to the ground like some sort of wrestling cage match and fought him off. And for all this, Zelda was supposed to not call the police?

“I’ll--sorry--I’ll take the water.”

He nodded, artfully scooting past her in the cramped space toward the little kitchen area, where a small but not small enough to necessarily be called mini fridge sat built into the white cabinets. It too was green, retro-looking, and very much stocked to the brim.

Link handed her a bottle of water before checking his knee and tossing the bloody paper towel into a garbage can hidden in yet another cabinet.

Whatever wounds had been inflicted on him seemed to be entirely due to the fact that he’d charged through a gravel parking lot half-naked in the middle of the night to save her. Without a shirt, he wasn’t as scrawny as Zelda thought. Obviously, he had to have some muscle on him to do the things she’d seen him do. She just was somehow expecting less.

And blamed her current emotional state for even thinking about that.

“My dad’s coming to get me,” she relayed as she decided it was better to stare at the bottle of water instead.

Link grunted an ascent to this. From the sheer volume of her previous conversation alone, she suspected that she didn’t have to tell him. But she did anyway.

He went over to the kitchen again, wetting a dishrag in the sink before wiping his face with it. The cut there had stopped bleeding on their walk over to the bus.

The bus, the only thing parked in the old RV spots that night. Rhoam used to let performers camp at the site, and apparently still did. For all he’d complained about it looking “trashy”, obviously the hookups still worked to the point where Link’s bus had power and water. Soft LED lighting had made it a haven in the darkness.

A bus. A fucking bus.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Zelda started up again, asking without even popping the cap on the water bottle. “Actually no, I know you do. I know you’ll tell me the same thing as them. Not to call the cops.”

Link winced at this. Actually winced. Maybe it was from stinging the cut on his forehead. Maybe not.

But he’d gone mute again, and gave no other response.

That only set Zelda off more. “You do and you would. You’re standing here bleeding all over your fucking bus and you’re going to tell me to keep quiet about it just like them. Why? Why did I bother coming back to this crazy little fucked up make-believe world you people live in?”

Link offered no answer to that.

Zelda looked down at her phone again, half of a mind to dial for emergency services anyway and defy all of them. Her father, Urbosa, Link. Hell, she had the numbers of the other Champions and would bet money they were in on it too if she bothered to ring them.

But it didn’t matter, because the phone only offered one last weak flicker to her touch before going black.

“I didn’t really mean that. I’m sorry,” was all Zelda had to say after that.

She slumped into the dinette table, head falling into the cradle of her forearms on the varnished wood.

A hand appeared in the sliver of vision that was left to her to slide the neglected water bottle toward her as Link crossed back once again to stand between her and the door.

“Are you okay?” Zelda thought to ask him, not bothering with the water, but turning her head the other way so she could see him out of the corner of her eye.

“Yeah,” was Link’s answer to that. He seemed to think about it for a moment.

Zelda turned her head just a little more, peering through the long blonde strands of her own hair at him. For once, he wasn’t looking at her, but out of the glass of the door, seeming not to trust that they were well and truly done with whatever was out there, lurking in the dark. Or maybe he was hoping to see the headlights of Rhoam’s car appear so he could be done with her. Probably that one, actually.

“I’m sorry for ruining your night,” Zelda told him as she buried her face in her arms completely. “And basically your entire day. But you deserved to at least have the evening to yourself after putting up with my shit and now here I am, sitting at your table.”

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t okay. She wanted him so badly to say that it wasn’t okay. That he hated her. That he despised her. That she was selfish and immature and ungrateful. That for all he cared, he could have just watched her get kidnapped and done nothing and had a better tomorrow for it. She was just an entitled brat, after all. The boss’ daughter, who didn’t even want to be there.

But instead, Link wandered past again, and pushed the cold water bottle at her elbow insistently.

This time, he went deeper into the bus, and when Zelda looked up to follow him with her eyes, emerged from the back of it, now wearing a faded graphic t-shirt she couldn’t quite make out the wording on. But she could make out the image of a knight on a horse. A different renaissance faire’s logo?

He looked at her, looking at him. He opened his mouth to say something, then reconsidered. He took a step forward, then tried again, “I was going to make dinner. I didn’t eat. You didn’t eat either. I don’t think, at least. Do you, um…?”

Link didn’t manage to finish the sentence. That many words at once seemed like it was too much for him, or maybe just too much for now. Even several feet down the bus, Zelda could see him shaking just slightly as he held his hands up in a bit of a shrug. Shaking just as she had when she’d followed him to the bus, fumbling to find Urbosa’s contact in her dying phone.

Zelda knew that feeling well. The tremor of anxiety and leftover adrenaline. The need to do something with that energy, anything, always. Because if she stopped, she would have to face reality. She would have to face the past and future alike, and watch them tear her apart.

“That sounds great,” she eventually answered. “And you’re right. I didn’t really eat. But…you don’t have to. You don’t have to do anything for me. You’ve already done too much.”

Link didn’t offer any response to that protest, and instead buried himself in the little fridge again. He gathered item after item, holding them to his chest before going over to the stove with an armful of things. A container of takeout rice. Two eggs wrapped between fingers. A bunch of green onions. A bottle of some brown sauce. A green-lidded tupperware whose contents were otherwise unidentifiable. A chunk of butter. A bag of frozen peas.

Zelda cracked open the bottle of water, finally. She sipped it as she watched him chop the onions. She watched him crack the eggs and whip them with a fork. She watched him dump the rice into a wok he pulled out. She watched as the tremors in him seemed to calm, slowly but surely, as the tupperware revealed a chunk of ham that he diced into smaller chunks of ham.

She watched as Link made fried rice that looked better than anything she’d eaten in weeks. She watched him smile to himself as he flipped it in the wok.

Short, horse girl chef man. Bloody knees. Lived in bus. He hummed a little as he cooked, seemingly lost in the process, forgetting all else. In his happy place, finally.

And here Zelda was, drinking her water and watching him, feeling the adrenaline leave her system too. Slowly and steadily, not like the confusing rush that had happened after her attacker ran off. Or the anger-filled void of staring at her broken phone.

This time, she only felt tired. Bone tired. She just wanted this night to be over. This long, terrible awful opening day of the faire. She wanted to just start over, honestly. Start over and try again. Curl up onto this dinette bench and its soft green cushions and wait for morning to come.

So when Rhoam came knocking at the door of the bus, just as Link was setting down a bowl of that delicious-smelling fried rice in front of her, Zelda decided it was not worth trying to explain why she didn’t really want to leave. Not that she could explain it, really.

She didn’t even get to try the rice.

---

“For the last time, I am physically fine!” Zelda shouted at her father as he drove down the mostly abandoned avenue that would lead back to their suburban home. “Mentally, I would be much better if I knew what was going on. Especially why you won’t involve the authorities in, I don’t know, your only child being attacked in the parking lot of a venue you own? One where, let’s not forget, you host a renaissance faire primarily attended by families with--”

“I’m sorry this happened to you,” Rhoam cut her off, repeating the same phrase for at least the fifth time in this awful car ride. “But I’m glad Link was there. And you’ll have to trust that I’m handling it.”

“You and a semi-mute horse girl that lives in a bus are going to keep me safe?” Zelda challenged from the passenger’s seat, arms crossed over her tank top, running parallel to the horizontal stripes that crossed it.

“Horse girl?”

“Link!”

The grimace that had been firmly planted on Rhoam’s face since Zelda began her much-deserved rant softened a little, revealing a smirk beneath it. “The lad is a bit of a horse girl. Good kid, though. And he even watched out for you off the clock.”

“I don’t want to be watched out for, dad,” Zelda told him, unphased by his odd fondness for Link this time. “I want to just work through my summer and get out of here. Right now, I’m thinking I should do that in Hateno. Working at a coffee shop or the campus bookstore couldn’t possibly be as awful as this.”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Rhoam swept in, scowl back on his face even though he kept his eyes on the road. “Now that this has happened, it’s better you’re here and have someone to look after you. Clearly Link is working out.”

“What is with you and him anyway?” Zelda asked, then thought for a moment before she began outlining her priorities, “That’s low on the list, actually. First, why was I attacked? Second, why won’t you call the cops? Third, why do you trust the weird dude who lives in a bus to keep me safe?”

“What’s wrong with living in a bus? You saw it. It’s a nice bus. I would have loved to have something like that when I was his age,” Rhoam said.

“There’s nothing wrong with living in a bus! Forget point number three entirely!” Zelda demanded, voice raising and pitch sharpening along with it as she clung to the armrest, turned as much toward him as her seatbelt would allow.

“I can’t have you involved,” Rhoam told her, his answer quiet and low in comparison.

“Dad, I’m already involved.”

She was too involved. So involved. So involved she could still feel the knife on her throat. Link’s shaking hand reaching for her elbow. The copper penny smell of his blood. The way her heart beat and beat and her brain somehow did nothing for all the effort.

Zelda had never felt so helpless in her entire life. Losing the internship was the worst thing to happen to her up until tonight. Now, she could have that terrible phone call with her dad any day, everyday, in exchange for never having to experience that again.

Rhoam hit a red light on the intersection before the one that he’d turn on to get into their subdivision. The road was nearly empty, and no one was waiting at the cross street. The light caught them purely on a timer, not for any need.

Well, any need besides Zelda’s. “Please, dad. It’s too late for you to keep me in the dark.”

“You weren’t supposed to be here,” was Rhoam’s answer as he finally turned to her.

“I didn’t want to be either,” Zelda told him.

Though these last two weeks between that fateful phone call and tonight had her questioning if she’d really rather be accepted for the internship at alll. Disease research was fascinating, sure, but it didn’t fill her with the passionate fire that other things did.

Sometimes it was just a brief, fleeting burn. She’d binge watch some shitty series while studying and then become utterly obsessed with it for a week. Then her favorite character would get killed off or do something stupid and her interest would immediately dissipate as if it had never existed at all.

But other things…they felt like the only things keeping her alive. Breath and blood. Each new fact or concept she grasped about archeology filled her with energy that vibrated her very bones and sinew. Reading papers on new discoveries was her guilty pleasure. Normal people didn’t subscribe to several scientific journals to get their daily serotonin, but Zelda did.

In fact, a good paper was just about the only thing that was going to calm her down enough to even get a shred of sleep tonight. That or some fried rice.

Fuck. She was starving.

But her father was cracking, looking down at her from across the cab of his truck. The information would have to fill her for now. “I received some threatening letters a few weeks ago. Several of them. Threats to me, to you, to the faire. Me, I could care less about. The faire, well, I can get help there. You, though. You, I won’t negotiate on.”

“Wait, what?”

She hadn’t expected this honestly, despite receiving it. But clearly, her father was feeling guilty enough to keep talking, so Zelda let him.

“I thought it was just some kids at first, threatening to pipe bomb the faire or whatever. I didn’t call the cops then because I couldn’t afford to have them shut us down if they decided to take things seriously. So I didn’t,” Rhoam explained.

The light turned green again, and he used the need to press down on the accelerator to take a pause.

“But they threatened me?” Zelda asked to keep him going.

Rhoam blew a sigh out of his nose. His beard didn’t ruffle much for it, having been flattened from its kingly glory by his nap on the couch and subsequent rush to come get her. “Eventually. Clearly whoever it is knows a lot about me.”

“What do they want?”

The eternal question. But Zelda wasn’t used to being the center of it. She’d watched her father deal with the many dramas of running the faire over the years. Dealing with high maintenance vendors and performers alike. Someone always wanted something from him. More space. More money. More time on stage. More, more, more.

“The castle,” was Rhoam’s answer.

He turned onto their street, into a neighborhood of simple, modest homes, most of them several decades old. Theirs was no exception. Tan brick, white siding, blue shutters. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Badly in need of a kitchen renovation. Hardly a castle itself.

“They want me to put the castle ruins up for sale,” Rhoam continued. “By midsummer. In the middle of the faire.”

“The midsummer festival is the busiest week of the faire,” Zelda noted. “Why would whoever this is think you’d be okay with that? It’d ruin you.”

“I’m not okay with it. That’s why they’re threatening me and my family,” Rhoam concluded. “Again, if it were just me, it’d be different. But people depend on that faire. People I’ve known for years and years. People you’ve grown up with. And you…”

His hands gripped at the leather of the steering wheel until it creaked. Zelda had no doubt in her mind where she’d gotten that bad habit of clenching her fists and crushing water bottles from.

Rhoam turned into their driveway with the steering wheel still under threat from his meaty fingers. “Link came to me looking for work,” he went on. “Exactly on the day that I got the letter that made a threat on you. And then you called me about the internship when he was still sitting in my office.”

The fact that the timing of all this was terribly convenient wasn’t lost on Zelda. But it paled in comparison to the deep sinkhole of embarrassment she was falling into at the idea of Link hearing her sobbing on the phone and begging her father for rescue from her own failure.

“He offered,” Rhoam told her. He pulled into the garage, shutting off the ignition and pressing the remote he kept clipped to the mirror to shut the door. “He promised me he’d keep you safe.”

“He did,” Zelda told him. “But you also could have told me. You could have given me options.”

“I wasn’t thinking straight at the time,” Rhoam admitted. His massive frame slumped against the seat of the truck. He made no move to open the door.

“I still don’t know if you’re thinking straight,” Zelda told him, unbuckling herself so she could lift her own much smaller body to twist in the seat and face him fully. “If you just told the police--”

“About a bomb threat? Kidnapping? Murder? Sure, they would definitely let me keep the faire open, Zelda. They definitely wouldn’t shut it down and leave hundreds of people without a source of income for the summer. And that’s even if they didn’t just laugh this off as some prank, even with what happened to you,” Rhoam said, shaking his head. “No, I can’t have that. I’m working on it. I promise I’m working on it.”

“How?” Zelda pried. “How can you fix that? Have Daruk go mean mug every slightly suspicious person that goes near the castle? Have Purah install some facial recognition system that scans police databases or whatever?”

“She did rig up some surveillance cameras for me.”

“Is that it?”

“No,” Rhoam told her with another shake of his head. “The good thing about working with all kinds of people for fifteen years is that you get to know, well, all kinds of people. Some of them are shady people who are good at investigating shady things. Trust me. They’re taking care of it for us, and I don’t need you sticking your nose into it.”

“You’re asking me to trust carnies in tights and armor--”

“--that you grew up around,” Rhoam reminded her. “That I consider our extended family. Don’t forget that. As much as I know you want to, please don’t forget that. It’s important to have people who have your back in life, Zelda. Sometimes, they’re not exactly the type of people you had imagined they would be, but that doesn’t change what you mean to one another.”

“It’s just--”

Rhoam finally looked over at her, turning to her. In a rare moment of contact between them--Zelda couldn’t remember the last hug she’d gotten from her father, maybe high school graduation--he took hold of her hands with his, encompassing them as he looked into her eyes.

“Zelda, please. Promise me. I told you this because it didn’t feel fair to leave you in the dark. You are involved now, yes, but I don’t want you any more involved than you are. Keep yourself safe. Don’t go off alone anymore. Stay with Link. I wrote an entire new plot for the faire to keep you with someone at all times. I know it’s not what you might want, but for now, until we figure this out, please just stick with him, all right? Stick with him and leave fixing this to me, all right?” he asked.

She looked down at his hands. So much bigger than hers. Rough and warm. A sincerity bled from his touch that went beyond the barrier of resentment between them. Beyond not being enough and being too much at the same time. Beyond being absent and too present at the same time as well.

“Okay,” Zelda answered, surprised by the shaking in her own voice.

Equally surprised by the fact that she had to run into the house after this, so that he wouldn’t see the tears that finally fell freely from her eyes then. After all that had happened, all the fear and frustration of the day, it had taken her father holding her hand to make her remember how to cry.

---

Zelda woke the next morning at seven. She’d fallen asleep maybe somewhere around four in the morning, so it wasn’t exactly a graceful rising. More of a battle against her alarm and the sandpaper consistency of her eyelids. But she won it, somehow.

And while she’d hoped to get more information out of her father over coffee, she instead came out into the kitchen to find that there was both no coffee to be found, and a note waiting for her next to a phone.

Had to go in early for a horse emergency up at the barn. Sorry, princess.

Urbosa drove your car back this morning. This phone is already activated with your number and restored from a cloud backup thanks to Purah.

Remember what I said about the people you know. And please remember what you promised.

I hate to ask you to go to work today. I really do. But please at least come to the castle so I know where you are.

- Dad

The only thing worse than having a control freak for a father was having any inclination to agree with that control. But, Zelda didn’t want to be in the house alone. So much so that she left early and made a beeline straight for the castle.

Well, with just one very short stop. Both because she very much needed to have coffee to make it through today, and because she needed to fix what she was allowed to fix. What she could fix.

It wasn’t exactly her fault she liked fixing things.

And this time, fixing things had her knocking on the door of a bus with a bag of breakfast burritos in hand.

Probably too many breakfast burritos, but she was starving, and Link clearly liked to eat.

Initially, there was no answer. Enough time passed for Zelda to think to herself about how stupid this was. How he was probably up at dawn to exercise his horse or whatever. Or help her dad with whatever horse emergency had been going on. Though she had her reasons to believe there was no such horse emergency and he just didn’t want to deal with her yelling at him in the car again.

And what if Link didn’t even like breakfast burritos? Nonsense. Everyone loves a breakfast burrito. But--

Zelda looked up from her own thoughts to find the door swinging open. A bleary-eyed Link stared down at her from an unusually high vantage for his short frame atop the steps up to the bus, loose hair wet from a shower and longer than she thought it was, but still clad in the same shirt and shorts she’d left him in last night.

The shirt she could read now that her brain was functioning normally again. The faded letters stretched across his chest spelled out, “Hateno Renaissance Festival”.

It all clicked at once. Her father’s nearly instant trust of him. His very specific set of skills relative to his young age. The brief mentions of her having met him when they were both small.

Link was another ren faire kid. Just like her.

Zelda remembered herself for a moment and held up the bag of burritos. “I um, hey. I wanted to--no, not, I don’t know--thank you? I guess? And also apologize for being awful to you. I was awful. I’m still pretty awful. But, I brought us breakfast burritos. Do you even like breakfast burritos?”

Link seemed to need a second to process that. It was early, terribly early still. Not even eight in the morning early. But also, she had been terrible to him. He had no reason to accept any sort of apology.

Especially not this early in the morning.

But, despite it all, a little closed-mouth smile appeared on his face, and he stepped aside, beckoning her to follow him up into the bus.

It was a really nice bus. Zelda had to admit that. She’d noticed the matching horse trailer parked on the side of it this morning--complete with the same paint job of the mostly green, blue, and brown geometric forest and mountain motif over white.

The full-length bus still felt oddly cozy, but at the same time bigger than she’d remembered from the night before. The little kitchen was at the front, with the dinette she’d sat at being just behind the driver’s seat. Beyond that, Zelda could see a little living room area, complete with a decent-sized couch. A wall stood to partition most of the rest of the bus beyond that, clearly for a bathroom that was big enough to fit the shower Link must have just come out of. His soap smelled nice. Very woodsy. A tiny glimpse of a bed lay beyond that, big enough to take up the entire back of the bus and scattered with an overabundance of pillows.

“I guess that’s a yes on breakfast burritos,” Zelda noted as she set the bag on the dinette table.

Link turned from where he’d retreated back into the kitchen and nodded to her, then offered, “Yes, sorry. I should have said something.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” she told him. “I’m the one who came here to apologize, and clearly you aren’t a talker. That’s fine. It’s all good.”

Zelda busied herself with setting out what was very much too many breakfast burritos in order to avoid any lingering awkwardness. She could easily house two herself, but didn’t think about doing that in mostly polite company. But there were six here. Not to mention the secret order of tater tots she ate in the car and chased with coffee.

But she didn’t know what Link liked. That was her excuse. Maybe he couldn’t do cheese, so she got some without cheese. Maybe he wasn’t a fan of the somewhat spicy Gerudo sausage that came in most of the burritos, so she had to get one with bacon instead. And then she wanted the bacon, so there were two with bacon now. And green and red salsa. Hot sauce too. Sour cream. Another order of tater tots for Link, of course, though she was definitely going to snag some. She should have gotten him a drink too. Oh well.

The dinette table was just about full from the spread by the time she looked up to see his eyes go wide from it.

“I bought way too much food,” Zelda told him and herself as well. “Don’t you dare say, ‘It’s okay,’ again either. For the record, some of this is for me. You just seemed really into food and--I don’t know. I’m sorry, okay?”

“It’s--” Link stopped himself before he could finish the phrase, and instead sat down at the dinette rather abruptly.

Zelda swallowed a breath she didn’t know she was holding and snatched one of the bacon burritos for herself. “Cheese, no cheese, bacon. Their hot sauce is amazing if you like spicy stuff. Sorry I didn’t get you a drink. I’m not very good at apologies, I guess.”

Link shrugged and took the other bacon burrito.

Good. Noted. Everyone loves bacon. Even weird little horse girl ren faire boys who Zelda just realized she likely had way too much in common with.

“I um, my dad told me a bit about what’s going on, last night that is, on the way home,” she started as she sat down on the other side of the table, on the same soft green cushions that had nearly lulled her to sleep the night before. “Not enough. He probably will never tell me everything, but I know about the threats. The letters. What you promised him. What you’re trying to do. How hard I made that for you. And I’m sorry.”

How many more times would she have to say it for things to feel right? Because it certainly didn’t sink in yet. Not even as she stared at him over the pile of burritos, trying to decide if it was weird to reach for the salsa to cover the silence.

“You said you didn’t want me to say it’s okay again,” Link finally piped up as he reached for that exact container of salsa and eased her of yet another burden.

“I don’t, but I realize that’s kind of what you’re supposed to say. At least if you mean it, that is. And I’m sorry for that too. And for bringing you a mountain of burritos to try to fix it. This was stupid. I’m being so stupid about this,” Zelda said, standing up with the full intent of leaving her half-unwrapped burrito behind and letting Link eat in peace.

He deserved that much, at least.

“It’s not stupid and neither are you,” Link affirmed, reaching out to lay just the very tips of his fingers on the back of her hand to stop her. “I love burritos.”

“Everyone loves burritos,” Zelda concluded. She looked between him and his stupid little small hands on hers. Just about as big as hers. Not massively intimidating like her father’s.

At least his touch didn’t draw tears from her.

Zelda sat back down and took the hot sauce instead. “I just--sorry--I talk too much. You’ve realized that by now, I’m sure, so I don’t know why I keep talking to tell you that. Anyway, I’m sorry. You were just trying to look out for me and I’m very grateful that you did. I understand why now and I feel like shit about it. I just want to start over with you.”

“Okay,” Link mouthed around his first bite of burrito.

“Really? It’s that easy?” Zelda asked.

Link shrugged and kept eating his burrito, clearly enjoying it, or maybe as hungry as she was.

At least he’d gotten to eat the fried rice he’d made for them. She should ask him for the recipe.

All things considered, though, Zelda couldn’t believe him. She needed more than just that shrug, but didn’t feel she could truly ask for anything else of him. She was just so used to fighting for everything and anything she’d ever wanted for herself. Her archeology minor, which she’d had to swear up and down to her father wouldn’t get in the way of her pre-med program or affect her grades in the classes that “really mattered”. Hell, even living outside of the dorms had been an argument for the ages. Going to prom with her first girlfriend. Having the girlfriend at all, as her father was worried that would distract too much from her studies. Going on a date with a guy after that had been entirely another thing too. Even getting her driver’s license. Doing anything for herself or by herself or just because she wanted to.

She wondered if Link had his own oppressive ren faire dad. If his perfect jousting was the result of the same pressure. The same…

Their hands collided again over the green salsa.

“Go ahead,” Zelda told him, quickly snatching hers back. “It’s really good. This is from one of my favorite spots. They do authentic Southern Gerudo style breakfast and lunch and are always fast. Urbosa knows the owner, because of course Urbosa knows anyone who’s so much as even been near the desert. I should have gotten you a coffee too. I didn’t know if you liked coffee. Their coffee is amazing. Sorry, I’m talking again.”

“I don’t mind,” Link told her as he doused his burrito in the green salsa. “You always have interesting things to say.”

Not shut up Zelda. Stop talking Zelda. Okay no one cares Zelda. I’m sorry Zelda, but you lost me there. That’s nice, little bird, don’t you have somewhere else to be right now?

People were always trying to get her to shut up. No one had ever been interested in her rambling before. Even most people’s politeness had a limit that she would very quickly and easily exceed.

So, “Oh,” was all she could say to that, along with taking a bite of burrito with maybe a little too much hot sauce on it to cover that up.

Definitely too much hot sauce. To the point where she was coughing from it and Link had to get up to get both of them a bottle of water.

This time, at least, Zelda was self-conscious enough to avoid crushing it. Link’s little laugh at her struggle helped, as did the fact that he seemed to take this as his cue to dunk his second burrito in the offending hot sauce, and then have his own personal battle with the spice level of it.

“It’s really good,” Zelda repeated between bouts of spicy laughter.

“Yeah,” Link choked back at her.

Halfway through her bottle of water and a bite into a sauceless burrito to tame the last of the flames, Zelda piped up again, throat finally clear enough to speak, “Anyway, I wanted to again just apologize for being awful to you and for evading you. And thank you for last night. I don’t really want to think about what would have happened if you weren’t there.”

“Me either.”

Link didn’t say much, even with him now breaking his seeming vow of silence around her, but when he did say anything, the words always packed a punch. Somehow, they struck a chord on the very sinew that held Zelda together, playing her like the faire musicians would their lutes or fiddles.

She wondered why, then, had he not spoken to her at all before, or presumably to anyone but her father. Clearly he could. Clearly, even if he wasn’t comfortable with it, he knew how to make his words matter.

“Can I ask you something?” she questioned as she let her wondering spill from her lips. “You don’t have to answer if it’s a difficult answer or at least difficult to explain. But, um, why don’t you talk to anyone?”

Blue eyes looked up from her beneath a mop of dirty blonde hair drying to a slight wave. He still had half a burrito in one hand, a tater tot in the other, and a streak of green salsa down his chin.

Link swallowed before replying, slow and low, “It was easier, I guess. If I wasn’t supposed to talk to you about what was happening. Your dad said it might be better just not to talk to you at all. And then it didn’t seem fair to talk to anyone else. Keeping the secret was my burden to bear. I don’t talk a lot anyway, so it was easier just not to talk at all.”

It was the most she’d ever heard him say at once, but exactly no more than what needed to be said. Succinct and to the point. The enraging, aggravating, and forever annoying point.

“It seems you and I have the same problem,” Zelda told him. “And it wears a fake crown, has a shitty beard, and thinks it knows better than us.”

Yet another thing she could blame her father for, then. Link had felt so pressured by the circumstances that he couldn’t even speak. And on top of that had presumably been made to promise not to speak of them to her, yet still be around her day in and day out.

No wonder her father had him playing the Silent Knight.

A quiet rage simmered within her at this notion. For all of her father’s good intentions in trying to keep her away from the threats to the faire, he could have easily gotten Link killed for it.

“What if he had a gun?” Zelda asked out loud. “Both of us could have ended up dead last night. For all those secrets. I promised my father I wouldn’t go to the authorities, as stupid as it seems. I also promised him I’d stick with you, and frankly, I didn’t need to make that promise. I don’t really want to be alone again after last night.”

A new paranoia had her looking around her all morning for red and black hoodies--anyone dressed uncharacteristically for the summer heat, really. Somewhere around three in the morning, as she was trying to lull herself to sleep the night before with a lovely paper about ancient Hylian pottery and just how rare it was to find a piece of it intact at any given site, Zelda had the thought that if they knew about her, then presumably they knew where she and her father lived. Maybe even where her apartment in Hateno was.

And suddenly the rare bliss of being alone and quiet with nothing but the constant ramble of her own thoughts was a thing she could no longer enjoy.

Good as it was, she was quickly losing her appetite for the rest of that second burrito, and set it down.

“Let’s…let’s not get shot about it, all right?” Zelda asked of Link, who was still eating despite the serious nature of the conversation. She was pretty sure he might still be eating if he was actively being shot at, but that was beside the point.

Still, he took a break to nod at her.

“I will warn you that I am going to be sticking my nose in this to some degree,” Zelda went on. “And you can tell on me if you want. If you must. But I’ll tell you as well that I’m going to do it in a way that keeps my promise. I’ll stick around and do my job here at the faire and not wander off alone. But, if I see something suspicious, or find some way I’m able to get more information about what’s going on otherwise, I’m going to pursue it. Just to be perfectly honest with you.”

Link gave her another nod and reached for his third burrito.

And although she was trying very much to be mad at her father and the situation he’d put both of them in at the moment, Zelda couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips.

That boy really did love to eat, huh? Well, at least she could always bribe him with food, if she needed to craft another apology to him for some reason.

Only when he leaned over to grab the hot sauce again and gingerly pour just a small amount onto his burrito this time, did she finally notice the thin red line that still marked his forehead from the night before. No longer actively bleeding, yes, and likely to scab over within the next few hours. It wouldn’t scar.

But still, it was there because of her.

Zelda didn’t even realize she was leaning over to brush it with her thumb until she was midway through the action. Link’s hair was soft and still damp as it parted way for her hand. His soap did smell good, at least, for a men’s product.

Link, for his part, didn’t so much as flinch, and let it happen.

“That cut doesn’t look too bad, actually,” Zelda noted as she tried to be graceful about suddenly leaning back to her side of the little dinette booth. “It’s fine for now. But you know, there’s a fine line between courage and recklessness. As brave as you are, that does not make you immortal.”

And as worried as she was for herself, Zelda certainly didn’t want him getting hurt over her either. Or worse. True enough, he had come to her rescue, but if things were only going to escalate from there, she didn’t think that his valiant, shirtless charges into battle would do either of them much good for long.

“I’m afraid things might only get worse from here,” she told him.

Link hadn’t started eating again since she’d touched him. He just looked at her, listening. Waiting.

She probably shouldn’t have touched him.

Still, Zelda went on, “So, from now on, let’s work together to make sure it doesn’t come to that. Deal?”

Link gave her another nod, then stuffed the rest of the third burrito in his mouth.

Well, at least he was easy to work with. And he appeared to very much appreciate her peace offering. She had to give him credit for that much.

And he smelled nice. For a boy, that is.

[sokkas-first-fangirl]

I absolutely love “You Used To Tell Me I Was Brave”! It’s such an interesting take on the Link/Zelda role reversal AU. Out of curiosity, what do you think the Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity story would be like in this AU? Would Link be the one who invented Terrako?

Thanks so much! 💕

I’ve got a whole plan regarding Age of Calamity. Doubt I’ll ever write it, but I know how I’d want it to go

Buckle in, lads, this is gonna get long

So, first things first, the battle at Hyrule Field. Nothing really changes there; Zelda kills some moblins and catches Queen Lianna’s attention. Finds Terrako, meets Impa, they kick ass together

The only real change would be dialogue from the soldiers. There’s whispers against Queen Lianna, wondering why she’s not using her golden power to help them. She’s trained in combat and highly skilled. Her own mother used to join the knights and soldiers, and fight by their side. Hylia’s blessing could vanquish the monsters so quickly. So why is the queen only watching from the walls?

When Impa and Zelda find Link, he recognises Terrako. His father, the late King Oberon, created him when Link was 5. Since Link was such a sickly child, often stuck in bed, Oberon made Terrako so Link wouldn’t be alone. Terrako acted as a friend/nanny/walking music box. But Queen Lianna took Terrako when Link was 9, shortly after Oberon’s death. Lianna claimed she had “that nuisance” destroyed. So how is Terrako here?

No one knew that King Oberon gave Terrako the ability to fight. No one knew they were meant to double as Link’s guard. Even Oberon didn’t know Terrako could time travel- that part was a genuine fluke (though Oberon would be pretty smug he managed such a thing by accident)

Link fully expects Lianna to destroy Terrako again (if indeed she ever did in the first place), but when Lianna hears Terrako has information on the Calamity, she instructs Link to bring “that thing” to Purah and Robbie.

On the way to the lab, when the group is attacked by a “rogue” Guardian, both Zelda and Link use themselves as bait to lure the Guardian into range for their attack. Impa despairs of them both. She’s stuck with TWO reckless gremlins now

The response to Terrako’s images of the Calamity is mostly confusion. After all, Lianna and Princess Lia have their powers. Does this information mean they don’t find Hylia’s Chosen knight on time? Did they not recruit pilots for the Divine Beasts? What exactly went wrong?

When it comes to recruiting the pilots, Mipha and Zelda immediately click. Total besties. These two get along like a house on fire. Mipha is incredibly protective of Link and Zelda notices how quiet and stiff Mipha gets when Queen Lianna and Princess Lia are brought up.

Daruk takes one look at all these teenagers and says “Guess I’m a dad now.” (Zelda is horrified when Link actually eats a rock roast. Highness, please, she’s meant to be guarding you. Don’t break your teeth on her watch.)

Revali’s pride is admittedly ruffled that the scorned prince is sent to recruit him. The powerless prince, the “useless” twin that the royal court openly ignores? It irks him. But, more than anything, he’s pissed that Zelda fought him to a standstill and everyone saw it. And Zelda isn’t Link- she sasses him back and returns his insults and has a temper of her own.

As for recruiting Urbosa, the Yiga still infiltrate Gerudo Town and Kohga disguises himself as Urbosa…but the Yiga are pissed that Link is here. They were hoping to get Princess Lia, maybe even Queen Lianna herself. The queen sent the useless one? You’ve gotta be kidding! Kohga feels cheated, but his anger makes him sloppy. Urbosa nearly kills him before Sooga rescues him.

Urbosa gladly accepts the role of pilot, but Zelda notices that Urbosa addresses Link directly, no mention of the Queen; “You are precious to me, and you need my help. I cannot refuse.” It interests Zelda, but also confuses her a little. After all, Link’s not a Champion. No magic powers. He’s meant to help the Sheikah. But Zelda’s noticing, more and more, that regular soldiers and peasants love Link, even if the court doesn’t. And now Lady Urbosa herself says she’ll join to help Link. It gets Zelda thinking

Of course Queen Lianna doesn’t thank Link for doing all the work. Neither does Princess Lia. Zelda comes across a difficult exchange: Queen Lianna confiscating a Sheikah relic from Link. It’s the first relic he ever found on his own, no help from the researchers. Link couldn’t figure out what it was, and neither could the Sheikah. Still, the researchers let Link keep it. It’s a unique relic; nothing resembling it has been found since. The Queen scolds Link for focusing on a “dead end” and orders him to go to the Spring of Courage and “make himself useful” by praying for their success.

Zelda’s pissed. The Queen orders Link to help with research and then confiscates his relic?? She calls him useless but she’s sent him all over Hyrule to recruit the pilots??? What the actual hell???

Zelda goes and beats up many, many knights in training. So many, in fact, that people begin to whisper about her abilities.

Just in time for the Master Sword to enter the plot! The main difference here is that Zelda is…Zelda. A girl. Everyone was expecting a boy. Once Astor flees, Zelda meekly asks if she should put the sword back for the “real” hero. The Deku Tree reassures her that she is the real hero; she’s been chosen, the first Heroine in a long line of Heroes. The Deku Tree then addresses Link, telling him he has more power than he knows.

Not much changes until the Calamity hits. We see a few moments of tension between Lia and Link. We see Rhoam pressuring Zelda to uphold a strong and fearless image. We see Zelda and Link grow closer and a few flirty remarks from Zelda. We see commoners getting help from Link and how quiet they get when the Queen rides by. We get some bonding moments between the Champions.

Then we have the Calamity. Link, Zelda and Impa race through the castle, fighting hordes of monsters. A surprise comes in the form of Crown Princess Lia. She speaks directly to Zelda; “Your orders are to protect my brother, do you understand?”

Lia seemingly dies as the trio flee. No one has seen Queen Lianna. Once they’re hiding in a safe spot, Link begins to panic. The Divine Beasts aren’t firing at Ganon. His sister just sacrificed herself and there’s no sign of his mother’s magic. How can Zelda possibly fight Ganon alone? It’s only made worse by Terrako’s images of the Divine Beasts being possessed by Ganon, just like the Guardians. Link has a full blown panic attack and Terrako begins to play an old lullaby. Light shoots from him, up into the sky. As far as the trio can tell, the lights didn’t do anything…but it helps calm Link down. Impa rallies Link and Zelda, reassuring them that, so long as they work together, they can do anything. They can save their friends. They can save Hyrule.

Of course, the “future gang” has arrived to help! Link, Zelda and Impa help save the Champions and team up with Zelda’s father, Captain Rhoam to free Akkala Citadel. Rhoam and Zelda have a heart to heart; he expresses his concerns for her safety, apologises for pressuring her since she drew the sword and tells Zelda he has complete faith in her.

Revali and Teba find and save Tulin in the Lost Woods. Revali accidentally reveals he’s got a major soft spot for kids. Urbosa and Riju fight off Yiga. Riju learns that Urbosa and Queen Lianna used to be friends, but Lianna’s treatment of Link and growing arrogance destroyed their friendship. Sidon and Mipha save Gopongo village (and Sidon bonds with his tiny self). Yunobo and Daruk save Kakariko village from monsters.

Then Fort Hateno. During the battle, Link’s sword is shattered by a Guardian. While the Sheikah slate is useful, it’s not going to keep him safe during a fight of this size. When the Blights and Astor appear, Zelda orders Impa to take Link and run. But Link runs after Zelda. As the Blights prepare to strike, Link pushes Zelda behind him and the impossible happens: light explodes from him, the Triforce appears on his hand, and the Blights and all nearby Guardians are destroyed.

Link just unlocked Hylia’s golden power. Everyone is stunned. Link’s a boy. This shouldn’t be possible. But he’s done it. The tides of battle turn in their favour; Link wields the power like he was born for it, like he’s always had it. They secure Fort Hateno and, as the sun rises, Link kisses Zelda. (Impa says that Revali owes her 20 rupees.)

It’s a big character development moment for Link: he actually gives a speech, in front of hundreds of people, using his voice loud and clear for everyone to hear. He still glows, casting a further sense of awe on the scene. Kohga joins the ranks, seeking revenge for his slaughtered friends, especially Sooga. He finally understands that Ganon will not reshape the world or spare the Yiga.

The gang receive word from one of Urbosa’s soldiers; Urbosa is at the Great Plateau, trying to save Hylian soldiers who were trapped there. With the Sheikah towers up and running once more, the gang races to give Urbosa back-up. They’re in for a shock; at the end of the battle, they find Princess Lia outside the Temple of Time. The royal twins embrace and Lia apologises again and again for how she ignored Link for so long. She sincerely thanks Zelda for protecting him. Inside the Temple, they find Queen Lianna. She’s still badly injured from Ganon; malice burns on her arms, legs and torso and a badly broken arm. It turns out the relic she confiscated from Link was an Ancient Shield, which protected her from a Guardian blast as she tried to hold Ganon back. When she tries to go to Link, he pushes right past her, asking where Urbosa is. When Urbosa comes in, Link runs right to her, and Urbosa keeps him close to her. Queen Lianna seems stunned, maybe even a little jealous.

During the final battle, Terrako is still possessed, forcing Zelda to fight them. Ganon kills Astor. When it comes to facing Ganon, Queen Lianna is too injured. Princess Lia, to everyone’s surprise, urges Link to go with Zelda to the Sanctum. She’ll help hold the monsters off as the blood moon rises.

Together, Link and Zelda defeat Ganon with their friends cheering them on.

The future gang has to go home and there’s many tearful farewells. The Champions (with surprising help from Kohga) work together to restore Terrako. Queen Lianna tries to apologise to Link, but he doesn’t forgive her. After years of verbal abuse and neglect, with his growing confidence he finally has the strength to stand up to her. Zelda is not surprised, though many courtiers are. They expected that, since Link forgave Princess Lia that everyone would be forgiven.

Queen Lianna, finally seeing things as they are, begins to realise how much the commoners of Hyrule dislike her, and how it’s the same for many knights and soldiers. She’s been harsh, passing unfair laws, raising taxes, holding herself so above everyone and looking down on everyone and everything that didn’t fit her world view. She’s forced to see that, during all those years she called Link useless, he was helping people and they love him. They don’t love her. They don’t even love Lia, not yet.

Lianna is left sitting on her throne, wondering what the future holds.

Princess Lia joins the Champions for bonding activities and goes into Castle Town with Link to help with repairs. Finally a real part of the team she was expected to lead, finally getting to know her people and finally bonding with her twin.

Terrako is restored and the Champions celebrate. Link and Zelda finally go on a real date- or at least their idea of one. Anyone who doesn’t know them expected a fancy dinner or something. Their friends know Link and Zelda won’t do something so simple. The duo takes a weekend trip around Central Hyrule, exploring the area, visiting other towns and villages and racing their horses.

Things aren’t perfect. Hyrule needs to recover from the Calamity. Queen Lianna, though she’s thoroughly been humbled, is still an unpopular ruler with the masses. Link still has years of abuse and neglect to recover from. Urbosa and Mipha both offer to let him stay with them for a while, to get a break from his mother. When Link points out he’s not allowed in Gerudo Town, Urbosa bluntly states she’s willing to make him an exception to the rule if it means keeping him safe.

The future has been drastically changed. All everyone can do now is work towards a better future and hope things go well.

[science-lings]

femlink headcanons??

Only if you want

Well, my fem!Link isn't too different from her canon counterpart, other than how she's viewed by other people and how that affects her, so a lot of these can be applied to botw/totk Link in general lol.

-Loves Gerudo Town, Urbosa has practically adopted her, they went on molduga hunts pre-calamity, she passes on the legacy to Riju and becomes her white older sister. They go sand seal surfing a lot, Link even has her own sand seal that she leaves in the city when she's not there. She is well known among the Gerudo as the short hylian who carries around monster guts and is always willing to babysit.

-has primary custody of the goddess harp (yk bc of that one concept art of link playing it), and while she can't do any magic with it, she likes to play it when the world is too quiet or she's away from Zelda and is thinking of her.

-Mipha still has a crush on her but with her being both hylian and a woman it's extra forbidden. The Zora are a little more chill about her being a holy prophesized warrior, but not when it comes to marrying into royal families. They just aren't biologically compatible in any way so if they had anything going on it was brief and when they were both young.

-She almost killed Bozai, not like, she held herself back from slicing him in half, but like she beat him within an inch of his life in front of the Gerudo guards. He deserves it.

-Link takes every opportunity presented to her to carry Zelda around, If she falls asleep at her desk or needs help getting on her horse, or if she tripped on a rock, Link will not hesitate to scoop her up in her arms. She kinda loves demonstrating that she is in fact, very strong.

-Aside from the master sword, Link prefers claymores and lynel clubs over spears and shorter swords. While she does look strong, she doesn't look like she's supposed to be able to carry around a weapon and swing it around like she does, I mean, she's still short. No Link can escape that fate.

-Still suffers from the hero-typical mutism, she only really talks to people she really trusts or when she is absolutely pissed. While it's not originating from the pressures of everyone's expectations, it's still bad enough that it affects her everyday life. And because it isn't from everyone putting all their faith in her, it's still extremely prevalent after she wakes from the shrine.

-can pet dogs

-Is actually really good friends with the great fairies, had to have a few conversations about boundaries but they're generally very nice and their actions are more motivated by ignorance to the average hylian experience rather than malice. Sometimes she falls asleep by their flowers because of the calming aura of the spring. It also helps that their magic repels monsters.

that's all for now lol but I would love to come up with more!

[brendathedoodler]

Could you share more about Sky in your swapped quests au? I’m curious how the og hero’s spirit would behave in an inter-dimensional war (in which he is presumably no longer the og).

Correct, Sky is no longer the OG holder of the hero’s spirit (that goes to Wild).

Tbh Sky is just so tired. He just fought a war caused by someone lusting after him so much she got corrupted by evil, all while he already has a girlfriend (now fiancée). He got 3 months to rest before his next time travel adventure began. Someone please just let him rest.

Admittedly, Sky is not the smartest man. He’s the best swordsman in Hyrule and can command troops on the battlefield with a sort of ease that grants him a lot of respect, but he was absolutely not the brains of the operation. Groose was. He was the strategist, the tactician, and while Sky might’ve been out on the battlefield more often, he’s certain that he couldn’t have done it without Groose. I’m not saying Sky is an idiot, I’m just saying that out of Sky and Groose, Groose is not the himbo.

He met a wide variety of characters on his journey through eras. Time and Hyrule appeared, with Hyrule being around 10 and Time being around 12. Sky practically adopted them as his little brothers and adores them, even if they were tiny menaces. At the time, Hyrule went by Fae and Time went by Lily, which are names that Sky still calls them, even if he’s trying to get used to their new ones.

He also met Wind’s Grandma, as she went in the place of Wind, who had been only 6. Despite this, Tetra showed up. Seeing as it pulled people from across time, it’s not unreasonable for an older Tetra to show up. Grandma is very proud of the woman Tetra will become!

There’s also the Sheiks. First is Artemis, who is 100% ready to be a wastelander ninja. Then there’s captain Sheik from Time’s era, who’s a pirate. Sun ends up having her own Sheik arc after getting personally targeted by Cia.

Groose is eternally being pestered by two weird fae children who are the past selves of his best friend and 3 creepy ninjas (plus Tetra).

Shadow and Ravio (specifically the Twili imp Ravio that Legend met) also appear, both arriving after their own Link’s adventure (though before the links vanished for their own time travel adventure). Some of the champions also arrive, namely Revali and Urbosa (but the Skyloft champions are a story for another day).

As for Sky himself, he’s officially decided that he no longer wants to take a leadership position like that again. He may be marrying the Queen of Hyrule but he’ll just be a prince consort; he won’t have any actual power and he wants to keep it that way. When he joins up with the chain, he’s more than welcome (and even eager) for Time and Warriors to take leadership positions (with Time having years of experience wrangling chaotic idiots into doing what he wants and Warriors having spent his entire life strategically planning how to not get killed). That won’t stop him from using his army commander voice on everyone if needed, and goddamn is that intimidating.

Sky still loves birds, and has 12 cucco hens that he loves dearly. He calls them his daughters and they adore him and Sun and nobody else. Groose fondly refers to them as “Link’s little demons”. They tolerate him at best.

[amiharana]

STREAMERS AU STREAMERS AU STREAM ERS A U ????????

yeah streamers au!!!!! :D i'm thinking all of them also upload their own videos on youtube too, but some originated as streamers and some as youtubers (more streamer au hcs under!!)

like i said in the other post, i think zelda would be analogous to someone like pokimane or valkyrae, and does variety/just talking streams. i don't think she would take advantage of or even be aware of her simps/e-girlism, she's actually very sweet and a just bit naive :'>. she probably already collaborates a lot with urbosa, and has on done a video or two with mipha. i would say she probably started off streaming first and then eventually starting doing youtube to post her vods, then make her own videos

mipha would kinda be like the qtcinderella and urbosa would be like. corpsehusband lowk ☝️😳 mipha does a lot of cutesy stuff like acnh and stardew valley playthroughs, maybe cooking & baking videos, and also like lifestyle videos like GRWM or 'day in the life' vlogs. her first video was a first aid video because she wanted to be a pediatrician when she was younger 🥺 urbosa started off as a youtuber and is one of those like old legendary youtubers who's still around so she's seen the rise and fall of the internet fr. she's very wise and she's zelda's favorite youtuber growing up, role model, and mentor 🥺 mipha probably also watched some of urbosa's videos growing up and cites urbosa as one of her inspirations when she started her own youtube channel :)

revali absolutely started off as a streamer but he excels as a youtuber, as expected. he does a lot of speedrun or challenge streams/videos of video games and i lowkey think that he has beaten quite a few speedrun records, only bested by link who he has an ongoing rivalry with because they keep beating each other's records. revali mostly does stream highlight videos, but every once in a while he'll do a fun little collab video with someone else or on the rare occasion, a vlog or a grwm 😧 someone asked him how he keeps his hair so nice on stream and he was so proud he ended up making a whole video about his haircare routine, what products he uses, etc HAHAHA

link is definitely the type of guy who made dumb little videos as a kid but eventually evolved into a full-fledged content creator with high quality videos and excellent ideas. he definitely does a lot of nintendo game videos (people adore his acnh playthrough series and his collabs with mipha 🥺), but i think he would also upload a lot of like. scenic videos of places he's traveled to or hiked at because he's pretty good at filming and editing. link def found his love for streaming and speedrunning on accident by, get this— watching one of revali's streams 😳😳😳 but he forgets that it was by revali 😭 link is like, This looks fun I want to try, so he does and is actually really good at it. so he ends up streaming the same exact games that revali did and beating his records, and revali would get pissed that his records were getting broken, and thus the rivalry was born!

what daruk does as a streamer or youtube still escapes me though like i just don't know what he would do. i can't even see him streaming KDJHFKJD like what would he do? maybe make reviews videos about old gaming systems, retro games, or reviews on his favorite restaurants or something LOL feel free to offer any ideas for him bc i'm lost lowkey

my brain is stewing with ideas for growing sexual tension between streamers revalink...... imagine them slowly starting to do collab streams together........ collab videos........ the champions going to twitchcon and doing a panel...... revalink meeting irl right before twitchcon because champion meetup and not knowing what to say because wow they're even more attractive irl....... revalink sexual tension in the airbnb all the champions are staying at because link got out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his waist because he forgot his clothes and revali's eyes bulging out of his head 😭 UGH I THINK I MIGHT WRITE THIS AS AN ACTUAL AU HAHAHAHA

[kiitkattie]

BOTW! AU: Gerudo Link

A Breath of the Wild AU! where Link is born as the son of Urbosa, rather than a Hylian. There was fear when he was born, as the only known male born to the Gerudo was Ganondorf, the herald of the Calamity. Urbosa, however, refused to accept that her son - no matter whom he would become - would bring destruction to their home. 

Her advisors debated on his name - that it should be Ganondorf as is the way of their ancestors - but Urbosa could feel a soft voice in her ear, so gentle and kind that whispered the name of the chosen hero, and as she looked upon her newborn babe - still so terribly small and fragile - she knew his name. 

Link grew into a formidable but kind warrior - earnest and caring. All of the Gerudo were his family - his sisters, and he would die to protect them. As the son of the Chieftain, he often accompanied his mother on her diplomatic missions to the other domains. He loved the Zora domain, with its shining waters, and its princess, Mipha. Mipha was one of his closest friends outside of his sisters - unafraid to speak her mind, and her healing ability was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen. 

He loved Goron City with its boisterous people even if they were a little rough. He enjoyed being called brother, and felt as if they were as close to brothers as he could get. Daruk was his favorite, however. His Goron sword was given to him by Daruk who taught him how to wield the heavy weapon, and he cherished it. 

Rito Village was too cold for him, but pretty in its own right. He was awed by the Rito’s ability to fly, and their use of the bow was incredible. The Rito’s best flyer was Revali, and despite his sardonic personality, Link considered him a friend. Revali gifted him a bow, and instructed him personally. “He takes to it like a fish out of water,” he had said once, “or like a Gerudo to the desert.” It was the highest compliment Link had ever recieved from him. 

Hyrule was both beautiful and terrifying. Link had grown up knowing that his namesake was the Hylian hero, and the fear that he would become the opposite. The Hylians gazed at him with interested, but fearful eyes. As they traveled to the castle, a few children dared to approach him with wide, curious eyes. They asked him many questions, few that he couldn’t answer. He taught them all the Gerudo games he had grown up playing. He liked the laughter of the children. It warmed his heart the same as his sisters’ laughter.

When he entered the throne room, staring up at the looming King, Link found himself unable to speak. His tongue felt heavy and dry in his mouth, making it impossible to utter a single word. The King’s eyes were intense, calculating, and so very familiar? He caught sight of a young Hylian girl - most likely the Princess - and he immediately felt the kinship snap into place between them. 

On the way home to Gerudo Town, his mother and her entourage stopped to stay the night near a forest. Unable to sleep, Link found himself wandering away from the fire, into the forest where he stumbles upon the Deku Tree and the Master Sword. The Koroks are expressive and full of child-like curiousity that Link immediately adores them, and the Deku Tree is gentle and kind. He tells Link of the heroes past, and confirms what his mother had felt long ago. 

He reaches, and the Master Sword slides free, glowing blue in the hand of the chosen. 

[candy8448]

Sage themes worst to best (imo)

I LOVED the sage music, it sounds so good!! None of them are bad, i really liked them all, its just that i prefer some over the others

Looking back on these, im quite impressed by my analysis, i wrote this on the spot with nothing planned in mind and it turned out so well, huh

(Spoilers, if you haven't gotten the fith sage yet)

5: Tulin

IM SORRY, i love Tulin too, he is adorable, and his theme reflects that, sounding flighty and fresh and young and hopeful, those are the first impression i got when i first watched the cutscene. Tulin was my first sage and while listening to the music in that cutscene (after just finishing the colgera fight with an AMAZING track) i knew that the other sages were going to also have sick themes. His theme is just not the style i like, it's the only one (maybe including sidon) that i wouldn't actively chose to listen to. Its still good tho.

4: Sidon

I... dont really care about sidon, i like his personality, i just prefer riju and tulin over him and never really cared about what he got up to (mipha was also my least favorite champion, so maybe i just dont care about the fish people?)

Anyway, Sidon was the only "new champion" in BotW who had a full theme that wasn't just 20 seconds long, so of course they would use it instead of creating something new for the others (which in breath of the wild, was just a cut bit from the champion themes) it is a really good reprise for sidon's theme (i did love his theme in botw), it just doesnt do it for me like the others do. Like sidon's character, it stays the same, iit doesnt bring that much new to the table. Its good, so it sticks with it.

Tied second: Riju and Mineru

I love them both, they sound so good fir very different reasons, i cannot pick a favorite between them

Riju

Riju is my favorite sage, and i like how her theme carries a lot of Urbosa's them with it, like how Riju is, the music carries on Urbosa's legacy, and it just feels like confidence, pride, finally found what she was looking for in herself to be a leader. Also i just love how it sounds, it sounds... kinda heavy? I dont know how to explain it, its just good.

Mineru

Unlike the others, her theme isnt bombastic and hopeful with newfound strength, it sounds sadder, but calmer. It slowly builds up but still stays lower. It does sound like how she stayed asleep for milenia, coming back but not with all herself, having to stay as a construct. She is the one who saw how the sages got defeated in the imprisoning war, and the music reflects that. It kind of sounds like an unsure hope? Like she doesn't know if it will work out but she is willing to put everything on the table to help link

After over 110 hours of the game, playing since day one, i only just got to this part of the game yesterday (spent a LOT of time exploring and doing sidequests) and imediatwlly noticed how drawn back this theme is, learning about the war right after this cutscene was a lot, it was a great scene, and the music fits so well

1: Yunobo

Didn't like him in botw, still dont know if i care about him (i still accidently call him Daruk cuz i forget his name), but his character is a lot better and BOY is this music good!

I loved it the moment i heard it so much that i just had to post the cutscene with the kusic to youtube. His dungeon was my absolute favorite and the music in the dungeon itself was also so good.

His theme starts all clumsy, like the character we knew in botw, but still takes into account his development from that game. Then we get to the GOOD stuff! just has the OOMPH and OUGH and its so bombastic, it sounds strong like the gorons and it sounds freeing, it sounds good, he knows his mistakes from the begining of when we find him in this game, he is confident, stong. Unlike Daruk's theme which started strong then went softer, slower, full if regret, Yunobo's starts clumsy, softer, then builds up into this new character he has made for himself, free of his regrets of what he has done and redeamed. Out of all tge new champions and sages, Yunobo is the one who went through the most development between the two games and his music definetly reflects that.

Also i just loved it from first listen, without thinking about all this that i wrote just now, its judt the best sounding overall, honestly i might like this character more now just because of this

[illusion-of-death]

I'd love to hear more about Urbosa in CMFTW! What are her hobbies? What does she value in this AU? What's the relation like with her family? Also, what's the place and country called where she travelled to to fetch Riju? (I admittedly dislike the canon name because it cheapens the Gerudo as characters and their culture imo.)

CMFTW Urbosa beloved!! I’m glad you asked :)

We’ve gotten to see quite a few of her hobbies in-fic so far—dancing’s always been a big one, even before she started professoring about it at UH, and I imagine her preferred style to be contemporary, though I’m sure there are plenty of specific subgenres within that style that I know very little about. She no longer plays D&D (besides the one notable exception) but her time with the game before her life went to shit did spark an interest in folklore and mythology, hence her coming up with the idea for that combined RELS course. She is also very much into engaging in silly shenanigans with her best friend/platonic partner Daruk, including but not limited to recipe experimentation, bowling as incorrectly as possible, and what I imagine are some very wild board game nights.

As for her values—I think that family seems to be a pretty big one. Caring about people in general. Ensuring that all her students are treated justly and fairly. Doing what she can to ease the suffering of others, because she wouldn’t wish certain life experiences of her own unto anyone.

Her relationship with her family is kind of twofold, I think. There’s her blood family, who we do not hear about besides her sister (who Hope and I never actually named, oops) and Riju, and nobody else is ever mentioned. I imagine that Urbosa and her sister lost their mother relatively young, and had a pretty bad time of it with only each other to lean on until they were adults, at which point Urbosa ended up moving to Akkala and her sister landed halfway across the globe. The few other relatives they have are not people either of them were particularly close with, which is why it was so important to both of them that Urbosa specifically be the one to take care of Riju after everything.

But there’s also her chosen family now! Daruk, as we all know, is the absolute best, and the two of them got super close almost immediately when they both started working at Akkala Elementary. Urbosa met Saphira the year of Link and Zelda and Mipha’s graduation to middle school, at the cute little ceremony Zelda’s dad couldn’t be bothered to show up to, and that relationship started growing pretty much the second Saphira finally got that divorce. They got married pretty shortly after that first D&D game got started, and Urbosa and Daruk’s QPR got a bit more official not long after that, much to Saphira’s delight, though the three of them all agreed not to be particularly open about it.

As for your second question—we… never actually decided. Our worldbuilding outside of Hyrule itself is VERY loose. Hyrule is pretty much a microstate, wide enough that it would take about two days to roadtrip directly across but with a very spread out, extremely low population. While it’s not quite as isolated here as it is in-game, it’s still pretty unusual for people to travel in/out of. Urbosa and her sister are originally from what would be the Gerudo region on the BotW map, but Urbosa moved to Akkala, and her sister fully left Hyrule altogether—all you really need to know (which is to say, all we ever bothered to establish) about where she ended up is that she went FAR. Like, think moving from Canada to Australia kind of far. Solid 20 hours of flights, completely opposite timezone—not exactly conducive to ease of visiting or communication. Plus, for plot convenience reasons, really, really bad phone service.

Thanks for asking!! If @ofstormsandfire has anything to add, go right ahead :)

[becauseplot]

dont mind me tripping and falling in here again. but i would also love to hear about botw au. legend of zelda au's my absolute beloved they have me running circles around my room. adrenaline shot straight to the heart nothing digs its claws in me quite like loz and i am so so interested to hear about it!! clingyduo doomed to save the world in every universe,,,, i'm invested already

thank you so much for humoring me, i love botw aus so much theyre aaaa!! aaAAAAAaaAaaAAa!!!!

so yeah this originally started bc an old friend of mine and i were talking and i forget who suggested it but we were like "hey wouldn't tommyinnit as link be so funny? because tommyinnit is like the exact opposite kind of feral-energy of botw link. loud and swears and uncontrollable and headstrong. hylia's most annoying hero." and things just devolved from there. it's fully a Crack Treated Seriously situation because i spent actual months working out lore n worldbuilding and whatnot fhdjskhfdk.

the fic is officially called Well, Excuuuuuuuse Me, Big Man: The BotW AU No One Asked For (or WEMBM for short)

basic layout (as far as i went with it anyway):

tommy more-or-less follows the order of what you're "supposed" to do to to beat the game: plateau->kakariko->hateno->kakariko again->four main regions->master sword->ganon. of course there are a lot of detours and back-tracking and skipping around for hyjinx

main regions/inhabitants are replaced: Zora->Axols (axolotl "hybrids"), Gorons->Piglins, Rito->Elytrians, Gerudo->Enderians

each of the above races have their own cultures that are loosely based off of the game's original counterparts and some mcrp fanon + personal headcanons thrown in. they're customized to incorporate some (mild) minecraft elements!!

old champions: Mipha->Niki, Daruk->Technoblade, Rivali->Philza, Urbosa->Ran (based loosely off of tftsmp Ran, effectively an oc lmao????)

new champions: Sidon->Foolish (Niki's younger brother) and Jack (Niki's best friend), Yunobo->Drista, Teba->Wilbur, Riju->Ranboo

all of their personalities more-or-less remain intact (which is why the fact that i put The Old Man / King Rhoam as Schlatt so fucking funny)

divine beasts keep their names but the creatures change!! Ruta is a glow squid, Rudania is a blaze, Medoh is still a bird (LMAO i might change this because...), Naboris is a phantom

some scattered details

wilbur is both the "new" champion role AND kass' role!! he and tommy meet early on in his journey (at his first visit to Hateno) but tommy doesn't learn about wilbur's heritage (Philza was his great great great grandfather) until MUCH later. they run into each other a lot during their travels.

wilbur also has a hardcore crush on an axol warrior named sally, which tommy teases and embarrasses him relentlessly for

tubbo (zelda-role) keeps zelda's arc of not being able to develop powers. the key difference is that tommy and tubbo are friends before the calamity business starts to get serious, and tubbo's frustration drives a wedge between them

(angst time: clingy duo has a Big Fight during that one sheikah slate Memory on the palace tower bridge, and they never get the chance to apologize to each other before it all goes to shit and tommy dies sacrificing himself to save tubbo.)

techno and phil are old friends from when they'd do colosseum fights together. they haven't talked much for a few years before becoming champions, both too busy with their respective duties at home, but the moment they realize they've both been recruited well, they're inseparable

windbombing, bullet-time bouncing, and shield clipping are canon. don't question it.

champion ran is a dick (think revali) and the only one there they respect is niki because they underestimated her and then she proceeded to floor them during a sparring session (and she didn't even threaten them with a water based attack, it was all skill)

awesamdude (most people call him "sam", he's ranboo's personal guard) has a half brother named awesamnook (most people call him "nook" or "samnook"). he's the Beedle-role and he talks in all caps like an npc ("HELLO TRAVELER." "Why are you shouting---" "HAVE A LOOK AT MY WARES." "Okay---")

bad runs the yiga-equivalent egg cult that, instead of disguising themselves as travelers, simply uses sprouts of blood-red flowers with a toxic pollen to mind-control bystanders into attacking tommy (yikes)

have some highlights from the few chapters i've written of tommy on the great plateau (yes, the entire google doc is written in comic sans)

tommy immediately sassing tubbo's disembodied voice:

tommy is 7 feet from the cave and is shoving things in his mouth:

(I should also mention he has a pet beetle in his pocket named Sir Legs)

tommy has a grudge against the sheikah pedestals, it's a whole arc on the plateau as he slowly comes to love and appreciate the pedestals and what they do for him:

old man J vs tommy's unwavering optimism(bullheadedness):

tommy vs disembodied voices:

tommy vs the first shrine:

tommy meets a monk:

pulling a direct line from philza's botw playthrough for this one:

me when i fast travel:

The loading screen says: "Leaving Comments: Leaving comments on a fic is a great way to make a writer go :D and give them the motivation they need to continue their bullshittery."

also some chapter titles: