The sky burned.
He had never seen anything quite like it. He had never tasted smoke and ash so heavily, smelled metal and blood mixing in a nauseating manner that nearly emptied his stomach. He'd never seen so many bodies. He'd never fought for more than twelve hours straight.
And he'd never seen the sky burn.
The bells in the temple rang repeatedly, a warning and a petition, a prayer and a guide. It punctuated the screams, it harmonized the ticking of lasers as they charged and fired, shooting through the air with such intensity that it created miniature claps of thunder as the heat separated the air harshly before it returned together with a snap.
And the sky burned.
Abel watched as the castle was engulfed in flames, filling the night air with sickly hues of red that drowned out the oncoming sunrise. They had fought all night to hold the guardians at bay to no avail. The capital had fallen. The king had fallen.
Hyrule had fallen.
He should have died in the castle alongside the king. When the library ceiling had collapsed in on all of them, that should have ended it. He should have died so the king could have lived.
Instead he was the only one who survived.
He shook his head, ridding himself of the distraction and despair. He may have failed his duty to the royal family, but the fight was not over. Hyrule hadn't fallen yet. Just the capital. There was still an entire country. He had failed the royal family, but he would not fail its people.
Barking orders at what remained of his troops, the captain of the royal guard corralled as many people out of the city as possible. When his men had found some semblance of organization, he ran back into the fray, ending up in the square with three guardians. One swiveled its head, its eye, once blue like a placid lake, was pinkish red, infected by the blood stained clouds that shot out of the castle. The other two were preoccupied, one destroying a building while the other killed the remaining civilians in the alley where it had cornered them.
Abel felt his blood freeze as the center guardian's laser focused on him, and then his entire body screamed in rage. He echoed it with a battle cry, charging ahead with his shield. He remembered his son's trick, he remembered seeing his little knight deflect a stray accidental blast so long ago.
He just had to time it right.
The guardian fired. His heart skipped a beat. He put the shield forward, shoving with all his might just as it made impact.
His arm shrieked in protest, and his entire body shuddered.
And the guardian's head melted as its own blast reflected back at it.
Gasping for air, Abel let his arm fall limp a moment, remembering how the pot lid Link had used had shattered into a thousand splinters, his arm broken from the maneuver. He remembered rushing to the princess' aid while internally panicking over his son.
But duty had always come first.
He prayed Link and the princess were safe.
Would they be able to stop this? Would the divine beasts be enough aid to halt an entire army, as well as the calamity itself? Would the princess be able to fulfill her destiny alongside his son?
Abel shook his head. Now wasn't the time. He was growing weary from fighting all evening and all night.
The other two guardians noticed their comrade had been destroyed and immediately started to charge towards the knight.
"Captain!"
Abel turned to see a handful of his soldiers coming to his aid. He asked, "The civilians?"
"The other team is helping to evacuate them," one of his men answered.
The temple's bells rang again and then were silenced by a terrifying crash of thunder. The guardians ripped the building apart piece by piece.
And the two in the plaza charged their lasers.
Electricity shot through Abel's veins. He couldn't deflect two blasts at once, and using his shield as his sole strategy was going to get everyone killed. His arm was already aching from fighting all night, and the one parry had nearly crippled him.
Abel roared and charged forward, trying to continue zigzagging back and forth so he wouldn't be an easy target. If he could make one fire on the other, then maybe--
One guardian charged faster than the other, its blast creating a cavernous hole in the earth, sending cobblestone flying, and Abel along with it. The captain of the guard landed in a heap just in front of the other guardian as it reached its peak charge.
Abel refused to die this easily. Getting a glimpse of the other guardian in his periphery, he rolled over cobblestone and broken weapons and bodies alike, slipping under the guardian entirely as the other fired, knocking its companion onto its side and exposing Abel once more.
With one guardian at least incapacitated, his men charged forward to chip away at it while Abel was left with the other. He ran towards it again, trying to get to its legs, knowing that if he hit it enough times he could at least damage them and slow the metal beast down. When it charged another blast, he cried out in warning to his fellow knights, who had finished off the other guardian, and they all scattered. Abel dove into an alley this time, fighting the jolt of horror as he landed atop the still body of a child.
The guardian's leg tore into the alley, trying to reach for Abel. When the knight scrambled away hastily, it reached another leg above the alley entirely, slowly tearing buildings apart to reach its prey. The child's bloodied form vanished in the debris that fell. Abel felt sick all over again, but the situation was far too immediate and dire to ponder everything he'd seen over the last twelve hours.
The buildings around him crumbled entirely, leaving him cornered against the wall of another alley, and he reached for a sword he no longer had, having lost it back in the plaza.
He was pinned and he knew it.
Looking around for the nearest weapon, he found a large tree branch that had somehow been blasted into the area from the nearest garden. He grabbed it desperately, glaring with all his hatred into that baleful pink eye.
He would die a knight of Hyrule. The Calamity would never take that from him.
There was a cry that tore through the air, a little hyah that made the knight's entire being nearly crumble with the instant recognition. A small figure dove from the nearest rooftop, sacred blade glowing so brightly it nearly blinded Abel. The figure landed on the guardian's body and sank the blade so deeply into the guardian's eye with such vehemence that when it collapsed he had to brace against it with his foot to pull the blade back out.
The sky burned around them, and the little knight's eyes burned even brighter.
"Link," Abel breathed, collapsing.
His son's fierce glare melted into worry as he rushed to the captain, falling to his knees to be at eye level and look him over. Hovering behind the guardian was another figure, a girl whose white dress was already stained with soot and soil and sweat.
The princess.
"Link, you--you have to leave," Abel immediately said, putting a hand on the teenager's shoulder. Link's eyes narrowed stubbornly, almost as if in defiance, and Abel shook his head, growing dizzier by the second. The mere sight of his boy made the world crash around him, the fight finally catching up to him. "L-listen to me. I--my men are gone, Link. The castle has--"
He looked beyond his son for a moment, watching the princess as she stared at him desperately.
"The king...?" she asked quietly, her words barely audible over the destruction all around them.
Abel swallowed. "He's gone, Your Highness. I'm... I'm so sorry."
Princess Zelda's face grew whiter than her dress. She covered her mouth quickly, eyes horrified at the news, and turned away. Abel watched her a moment longer, feeling all the worse for having failed in his duty to protect the king, and then returned his focus to the young knight in front of him.
"You have to get her out of here," he said quietly, his voice beginning to shake.
Link immediately shook his head. He looked up beyond Abel, up at the castle, where the Calamity itself swirled around like a demon ready to consume its prey.
"Link!" Abel snapped, catching his boy's attention. "Listen to me! The castle has fallen. My men can't fight an army of these guardians! The divine beasts have done nothing, and if the Calamity can corrupt our army, then there's no doubt they can corrupt the beasts as well."
Link swallowed, brow furrowing together. His boy, who had tried so desperately to always be so stoic, began to look afraid. He shook his head again.
Abel's hand slid from Link's shoulder to his face, making him focus on him. "Son... they're gone."
The Champions are gone. You have no support. Don't you understand? Don't you see this is impossible?
Link's lips trembled, and he bit harshly to still them.
"Get her out of here," Abel repeated. "You can't win this fight. Not here, not like this. Go to Fort Hateno, Link. We'll rally the troops there and figure something out."
It was more than just bad news and a command. It was hope, and Link latched on to the words, his face growing stony with determination. Abel pat his cheek lightly and gave what little bit of a smile that he could muster. "I'll meet you there, okay?"
His son watched him, his façade cracking a hair, his breath hitching for just a moment. Abel slid his hand behind his boy's head, pulling him close so their foreheads rested against each other, and they both closed their eyes for a moment. "Keep her safe. Do your duty, Link. Now, go."
The moment was lost, and Link pulled away. He took a slow, deep, steadying breath, and then nodded. With determination set on his face, he turned quickly, rushing to the princess and grabbing her by the wrist, pulling her away from Abel, away from the castle, away from city and the ruin and the disaster all around them. Zelda followed helplessly, tears staining her cheeks as she turned back to look one last time at her home, her kingdom, before they vanished around a corner.
Abel sat there on the cold stone floor a moment longer, catching his breath and readying himself. He offered up a prayer for his son and the princess, for Hyrule and its protection. Then he rose, dragging his feet out into the plaza and finding his weapon and shield he had dropped.
And he moved forward as the sky burned above.
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danbi dog walking w/ tae sort of meet cute-type date vibes
🪩 WORDCOUNT | 700 (exactly!)
🪩 NOTE FROM HOLLY | so i kinda think they're impossible to have a meet-cute, just because danbi was sooooo anti-tae at the start. like she always knew he was interested and used to try soooo hard to pretend that she wasnt!!! plus if anyone is a man hater (complimentary <3) it's danbi!! I can't remember when, but i know it's mentioned earlier on in the story that tae had been at memorial park with dan so.... here u go!
🪩 BD DRABBLES MASTERPOST 🪩
“Again?” Danbi sighs as she notices the man walking towards her up through the path of the Memorial Park.
She’d put her hands on her hips if either of them were free - but she’s currently got three dogs to each hand. The leads wrap around so tightly it’s a miracle her fingers haven’t fallen off yet.
Still, her facial expression conveys everything her body can’t - and yet Kim Taehyung has the audacity to stand there fucking smiling.
“Fancy seeing you here!” He beams, turning on his heel to stop himself from walking on by. Doesn't miss a beat. Heads in the same direction as Danbi, now.
“Y’know, some people would consider this stalking,” she tells him with nothing but disdain.
“See, I would agree,” Taehyung answers with contemplative arrogance. “But it’s funny - DB seems to reckon you’ve changed your route, recently?”
“Oh has she, now?” Danbi says, resisting the urge to curse you out. Loves you to death, but knows exactly what you’re doing. Begins to think that your joke about dressing up as cupid for Halloween isn’t really a joke.
“Mhmm,” Taehyung nods, hands in pockets. A little shy, but trying desperately hard not to be. “You used to do your walks down by the river, apparently.”
Danbi’s jaw is tense. Unwavering. “Sometimes a change of scenery is good. Gives the pups more mental stimulation. Different smells.”
“There are so many parks in the city,” he muses.
“Well I’ll pick a different one, once I’ve decided they’ve had enough of this one.”
“Maybe you should try the city forest,” Taehyung suggests. “The one by the last stop on line two. I go there pretty often, too.”
The narrowing of Danbi’s eyes only serves to make Taehyung smile. He’s learning pretty quickly which buttons of Danbi’s to press - and given how easy it is to wind her up, he doesn’t have to try particularly hard.
It’s what he likes about her, though. She’s fiery. Ignites a little something inside him.
“My route choices have nothing to do with you.”
“No?” He challenges. “So why’d it change after you found out my studio overlooks Memorial Park?”
“Coincidence.”
“Y’know,” Taehyung smirks. “Some people would consider it stalking.”
If there’s one thing Danbi hates, it’s when men make her smile - and Taehyung is getting dangerously close to that. She has to nip this in the bud, or otherwise her mild-infatuation with him will inevitably grow, and she cannot let that happen.
She’s dated musicians. Dated pretty boys. Ones with egos. Knows that artists are even worse.
And the ones who look like Kim Taehyung? Nothing but trouble. She knows that as soon as her guard is down, some girl from his art school will end up back in his DM’s and then she’ll have to fight for his attention, which she refuses to do. Dreads to think of the notches in his bedpost. Doesn’t wanna have to look at the art he’s made from other muses.
Again, she’s dated men who are menaces before. Had songs written for other girls cosplayed as serenades for her (fuck you, Sanghyuk). Refuses to let it happen again.
Better to just fight with him. Easier that way.
She’s incapable of doing anything by half measures though, so hatred seems like the best course of action.
“With all due respect, Taehyung, I’m working,” she shrugs, picking up her pace.
“Let me help.”
“No.”
“I'm good with animals.”
“You’re not insured.”
“I know how to walk a dog”
“No.”
“Let me-”
“Fine! Take Mabel,” Danbi finally relents, adjusting the leashes to hold one out from him. On the end is a Pomeranian, not too dissimilar from Taehyung’s own dog - the same dog Taehyung keeps trying to convince Danbi to walk, just so he has an excuse to see her. “She bites.”
“It’s fine,” Taehyung says, taking the leash in his palm and wrapping it over slightly for a little extra security. Starts walking. Is cheeky, as he says, “I’m used to bitches who bite.”
“You did not just call me a bitch,” Danbi gasps, genuinely affronted. It’s the first time throughout this entire interaction that Taehyung thinks he’s getting genuine emotion from her. Knows the rest of it is bull.
“Well, are you planning on biting me?” He flirts. Wouldn’t be opposed. In fact, he’d quite like it.
“Shut up,” she whines with a deadly roll of her eyes. “Just walk the damn dog."
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