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lyrabythelake · 3 years

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I don't actually know where to find the Whumptober/Linktober prompts, but if you are taking suggestions, a follow up to the dehydration one where the pirates who rescue them are Not The Most Friendly would be amazing. You got that good good angst in the first one and then the pain does not stop

CW: blood, broken bones, death (of mean pirates), violence

Thank you for this great prompt, pokegeek! This is for today’s LU Linktober prompt, ‘Trick’ and a continuation of this whumptober prompt. I hope you like it!! (this turned out so much longer than intended, whoops)

So the pirates, it turns out, aren’t like the friendly, convivial pirates Wind has told them about in his stories. They probably should have accounted for that, Hyrule thinks as he stares into the deep, dark, frothing abyss that is the ocean, nothing between him and certain death but a flimsy wooden plank and sheer determination to keep his balance. Pirates, by their very nature, plunder passing ships, and for this pirate ship in particular to be this big must mean the pirates on board must have done an awful lot of plundering.

“Er- ahoy there!” Hyrule calls out to the biggest, nastiest looking pirate who he assumes must be the captain. He says it in what he hopes is a cheerful, reasonable tone, though it doesn’t stop Legend from giving him a weird look.

The captain stands at the head of the group of pirates as they watch Hyrule and Legend try their best to keep their balance on a foot-wide piece of wood with their hands tied behind their backs. He is, to put it frankly, a walking, talking cliché. He has a missing leg, a hook for a hand and an eyepatch over one eye. He wears a mismatch of fine, wealthy clothing clearly stolen from several different people and thrown on in a mockery of this world’s fashion. It might’ve been funny if they weren’t currently standing perilously over the jaws of death.

“I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding,” he tells him placatingly, “we don’t mean any harm, we just want to catch a ride back to land.”

The captain stares, silent and menacing. It’s more than a little unnerving.

Hyrule suddenly fights off a wave of light-headedness that threatens to topple him, his hunger and dehydration from the past two days besting him for a few seconds.

“Hyrule?” he hears Legend mutter urgently when his vision clears, “I really think you should shut up now. They don’t seem the type to reason.”

He glances at his friend who stands between him and the pirates. He looks awful. His skin is sunburned and peeling, his lips are cracked and bleeding, and he looks about ten seconds away from collapse.

“What other option do we have?” he replies in a harsh whisper, “unless you want to try fighting them again?”

“Oh, yeah, because that went so well the first time.”

When they had first been rescued from their drifting dinghy and it had become abundantly clear that their saviours did not have their best interests at heart, they had engaged in battle. Unfortunately, it had been very short lived, their deteriorated health paired with the fact it was two against at least fifteen setting them at an impossible disadvantage.

They were captured immediately, and it soon turned out that the punishment for attacking the ship and its crew was immediate and painful execution. Hence their current predicament.

“Enough!” The captain’s voice is so sudden and booming, Hyrule almost loses his balance. “Jump, now, or I will get my men to push you.” His accent sharpens the edges of his words like a whetstone to a blade. His on visible eye is dark and stormy and, even from this distance, Hyrule notices more than a few of his teeth are black and rotten.

Legend swears under his breath as Hyrule rummages in the depths of his mind for any sudden, miraculous plans that may save them. He comes up terrifyingly short-changed.

One of the smaller members of the crew, a boy who can’t be much older than Wind, comes forward then, a large, wooden pole in hand. He holds one end and starts to push the other closer to where they stand on the very edge of the plank.

For the second time that day, Hyrule genuinely thinks he’s going to die. Instead of backing the two millimetres he has left of the plank behind him, he shuffles a little closer to Legend in front of him so their shoulders touch ever so slightly.

He’s glad he made that speech now, back on the boat when they was dying more slowly and significantly less dramatically than they are now. He had felt a little silly at the time; the truth is, he had been overcome with light-headedness from dehydration and it had loosened his tongue much more than he would have liked, but in the end he is happy he could let Legend know the truth before their time together draws to a close.

He huddles ever closer to Legend and closes his eyes. Takes a long, deep, futile breath so he might last a moment longer beneath those cruel, coursing waves, and—

“WAIT!”

His eyes snap open at Legend’s hoarse shout.

“We- we know the hero. Link, the hero of courage?” Legend’s tone slants upwards at the end of his sentence making it a question, and in doing so he displays his desperation openly for the world to hear.

But to Hyrule’s surprise, the captain frowns before lifting his flesh hand up, signalling for the boy with the pole to cease in his approach.

“You know the hero?” the captain repeats, the interest in his tone sparking one last morsel of hope in Hyrule’s chest.

“Yes! Yes, we know the hero.”

The captain and his crew stare at them for what seems like an eternity. Hyrule’s ears ring and his heart beats loudly in his chest. They are balancing atop the fragile barrier between life and death and he has no idea which way they are going to fall. Eventually, the captain speaks.

“Bring them to me. They will not die today.”

They are pulled back onto the deck of the boat and a painful kick to the back of his knees has Hyrule kneeling before the captain. It all happens in a whirlwind and Hyrule doesn’t know whether to feel relieved or even more terrified at being thrown back into the frying pan.

The captain looks awfully tall as he looms above them, at least a foot and a half taller than either of them even if they were standing on their feet. His skin is leathery and pockmarked from exposure to the elements and his hair and beard is long and knotted, cascading down his chest and back like spilled soil. Everything about him is fine-tuned to be intimidating.

He narrows his stony eye and focuses on Legend where he kneels in front of him.

“If you really know the hero, you will take us to him,” he says, his tone leaving no room to deny that he is a leader of men, and a fierce one at that.

“Why?” Legend asks bluntly. As quick as a flash, he has his head dipped to the floor in front of him, his face screwed up in pain. A steady stream of blood drips from his nose onto the wooden deck. Hyrule is stunned; he barely saw the captain move from his position above them, but the blood smeared on his right fist in unmistakable. He would never have guessed the man could move with such speed, large and imposing as he is.

“You do not ask questions,” the captain says, his tone calm and monotonous, “you answer mine. Where is the hero?”

Legend says nothing this time, staring defiantly up at him, blood pouring from his nose and into his mouth. Hyrule’s stomach drops. He can’t afford to lose any blood; he’s about to drop from dehydration as it is.

After a few seconds of silence, the captain snatches the long wooden pole from the young crewmember, wielding it as if he had trained with it as a weapon his whole life. There is a loud crack as he strikes Legend across the ribs and Hyrule cringes at the pained cry his friend lets escape.

Still, Legend says nothing.

There are two more cracks, another one across his ribs and one to his arm, the sound of the bone snapping in two echoing out over the water, before Hyrule can take it no more.

“He’s on Outset Island!” He shouts breathlessly as the captain raises the pole for the fifth time. The look Legend gives him is one of utter betrayal and he can’t help but feel a stab of guilt deep within his chest. The captain lowers his stick, his eyes moving slowly from Legend to Hyrule.

“It seems I was asking the wrong person. Outset Island, you say? I do not know of it.”

“I know it, captain,” says a man who stands to the captain’s right. He is strikingly unassuming, his clothes well-made but frayed and worn with years of use, his short brown hair combed back from his face. He wouldn’t look out of place shopping for groceries back on land, and that, thinks Hyrule, is perhaps the scariest thing about him.

“It seems we are in luck,” the captain says, keeping his eye fixed on Hyrule, “we will set off immediately. Take them below deck,” he orders with a wave of his hand. Two pairs of hands grab Hyrule roughly, pulling him to his feet. They begin to drag him across the deck before the captain speaks once more.

“Wait,” he orders. He does not shout, but the effect is immediate and the hands on Hyrule still, keeping him locked into place. The pirate captain approaches, leaning down so that his face is inches from Hyrule’s own. The stench of his breath is vile, rotting fish and something worse, rancid and decaying.

“If you have lied to me,” he says in a voice low enough that the words are between them only, “I will cut out your tongue, then each of your eyes and then I will make you listen as I chop your friend up piece by piece. I will take my time and I will enjoy it.”

Hyrule shivers at the way he says it, slowly, as if he is savouring each word. There is no doubt in his mind now that the man they have ended up on the same boat as is the very worst of mankind, and he is certain that he wouldn’t hesitate to follow through on his threat.

He hears Legend groan in pain as they are both hauled to the steps that lead below deck. The world spins around him, making it impossible to navigate in which direction they are being taken. There is a corridor, a couple of turns, until soon enough they are thrown roughly to the floor of a small cabin piled high with wooden crates.

“Please,” Hyrule says quickly to one of his captures before they can leave, “we need water. We haven’t had any for days.”

At first he thinks they aren’t going to comply, but as the last of the men leave, a waterskin is thrown to the floor at their feet before the cabin door swings shut.

“What the fuck, Hyrule?”

He turns to look at where Legend is sprawled, his shoulders rested against a crate. He is startlingly pale beneath his sunburn and his nose is red, swollen and still bleeding (Hyrule really hopes the blood on his tunic is from his nose rather than any open wounds on his torso). His expression, however, is twisted in disgust and anger. “How could you do that?” he asks, his voice thick through the blood. “How could you tell them where the others are?”

Hyrule brings his forefinger to his own mouth, signalling him to be quiet, before shuffling over in the cramped space to be nearer to him. It’s a struggle with his hands tied, but he manages. He turns around and without a word Legend painstakingly manoeuvres himself so they are sitting back-to-back and begins working on untying the knot around Hyrule’s hands. It is slow work with Legend only being able to use one hand, the other useless and broken, but he doesn’t complain, not once.

“They don’t know how many of us there are,” Hyrule explains in a low whisper, “they think it’s just Wind. The seven of them will take them down no problem.”

Legend is quiet for a moment and Hyrule wishes he could see his face so he might catch an inkling of what he might be feeling.

“I-“ Legend says eventually, “I didn’t think of that… why didn’t I think of that?” The last part is more berating towards himself than it is aimed at Hyrule.

“You’re tired and in pain and we haven’t eaten for over two days,” Hyrule replies gently just as Legend manages to undo the rope. He turns around and unties Legend’s in a matter of seconds.

“Speaking of…” He walks over to the waterskin lying on the floor and lifts it up. He might have cried with relief if he had any water to spare when he finds it at least three quarter full. He takes a large gulp and the feeling of water running down his dry, hoarse throat might just be the best feeling in the world, like the first fall of rain after a long, dry summer.

For a couple of glorious seconds, it’s like all his aches and pains have miraculously been cured. But as soon as the feeling washes over him, it is gone once more, and he is left feeling possibly even worse than before.

He sighs glumly before handing the rest to Legend. “Here. Drink it slowly.”

“What about you?” Legend asks. Hyrule is concerned to notice the beginnings of delirium in his eyes and the way he is hunched in on himself as he sits on the floor, clutching his broken arm to his chest. He hopes they aren’t too far from Outset Island; he doesn’t know how much longer Legend is going to be able to hold out.

“I’ve had some,” he tells him. Legend wipes some of the blood off his face before raising the waterskin to his mouth, taking a long drink. Hyrule sits down beside him, thankful for the chance to rest. His dizziness is enough that his surroundings have started spinning alarmingly again.

“Slowly, I said,” Hyrule tells him, grabbing the bottom of the waterskin and lowering it slightly. Legend glares moodily at him and Hyrule can’t help but smile at the glimpse of fire that has been noticeably missing from the veteran ever since they were kidnapped.

Legend takes another, smaller sip of water and Hyrule’s smile fades.

“You do have a point, though,” he says solemnly, “I put the entirety of Wind’s home and island at risk by telling those pirates where he lives. If they find his family or any of the island’s residents before the others find them, innocent people will be killed for sure. Or if one of the pirates gets away, word might get out of the hero’s whereabouts and the island would be attacked in the future… I just- I didn’t know what else to do.”

He is brought from his reverie by a hand on his arm and looks up to see an unreadable expression on Legend’s face.

“I won’t lie and say you did the right thing, because I have no idea. But the others have never let us down in the past. We’ve never lost a fight and we’ve fought much worse than a bunch of pirates whose captain is only half intact.”

Hyrule huffs in amusement. “I do like his style, though. Maybe we should convince the old man to get an eyepatch.”

Legend makes a sound that starts as a dry laugh and ends in painful, wracking coughs. Hyrule can do nothing but rub his back soothingly as blood sprays from his mouth and he clutches his chest in clear agony. He can only hope that the blood is from his nose and not from any internal bleeding caused by the trauma to his ribs.

“Agh,” Legend groans as the coughs recede, spitting out a last mouthful of blood and taking another swig of water. Hyrule suddenly feels panic well up inside him. What if Legend doesn’t make it?

“Quit looking at me like that,” Legend says breathlessly, “you’ve basically tricked a bunch of pirates into ferrying us to where we need to be, we’ll have red potions and full bellies in no time.” His words are slightly slurred, from pain or delirium, Hyrule can’t be sure. Dehydration and blood loss can do strange things to a person, he’s learned that first-hand. If he’s bleeding internally, there’s no way of knowing how much danger he’s in.

“You should lie down,” Hyrule suggests seriously, “or at least stop moving so much.”

“Goddesses, you nag as much as the old man,” he mutters, though it’s a mark of how bad he must be feeling that he takes the advice and lowers himself so he’s lying on his side on the hard, wooden floor.

“Here,” Hyrule says, grabbing a piece of old material that’s draped over one of the crates in the corner. He taps the side of Legend’s head to signal him to lift it up and slides the material underneath. Legend grumbles his thanks, closes his eyes and leaves Hyrule to stew in his darkening anxiety.

There are no windows in the cabin, so Hyrule has no way of knowing where they are. He feels as if they are adrift in that little dinghy again, except now there are several blood-thirsty pirates on the platform above.

Hyrule sighs.

The waves beat against the hull, a steady, maddening metronome to his thoughts that eventually lull his weary mind to sleep.

-----

He wakes to the sounds of battle. Metal on metal, the hollow thump of wood, muted, fervent voices.

It’s loud, and it takes a few, heart-stopping moments for Hyrule to realise the fighting is coming from above them rather than his immediate surroundings. The boat – the battle is on the deck above and the wooden planks above his head creak and strain with the movement.

His gaze drifts to Legend and he is assured to see the steady rise and fall of his chest as he sleeps beside him.

“Legend,” he hisses, bringing a startlingly heavy limb over to shake him gently “Legend, I think- I think we’re being attacked.”

Nothing. Not a sound or a movement in response.

Hyrule takes a shaky breath. He can’t fight in the state he’s in; he can feel how is body is finally giving out on him and he doubts he could even stand up if he tried. He has no weapon; their swords were stolen from them by the pirates when they were first taken aboard.

There is a grunt of what sounds like pain and the fighting quietens. Then there are footsteps, far away at first and then… closer? Hylia, his depth perception is completely off, how close are they?

The door swings open and Hyrule scrambles shakily to his feet, adrenaline fuelling his body’s last stand as he raises his fists. He is aware, distantly of how pathetic he must look, but damn if he isn’t going to give all he’s got to protect his unconscious friend.

“Hyrule! Oh, thank Hylia you’re here.”

Relief drains the last dregs of energy from him as his vision clears to see Sky standing there, sword at the ready, and before he can catch himself his legs give out.

“Woah.” Sky catches him before his knees can hit the floor and he is lowered into a sitting position. “What happened?” He glances worriedly at Legend. “Where have you two been all this time?”

“He needs- he needs help,” he tells him, the words heavy on his tongue, “they beat him, I think he’s bleeding internally.”

Sky’s brows bunch together in worry and his hands leave Hyrule to check Legend.

“How long has he been unconscious?”

“I don’t know,” Hyrule admits helplessly, “I fell asleep a while ago, I- I don’t know.” There are more footsteps outside the door and Hyrule’s heart flutters again for a moment before Warriors appears. He’s out of breath and there’s blood streaked down one side of his face, but it doesn’t look like it’s his own.

“Hyrule!” he exclaims, relief evident on his face, “how did you get here? We’ve been looking for you for days!”

“Long story.”

“Do you think you can carry Legend?” Sky asks Warriors seriously, “Hyrule says he’s got some internal bleeding, I can’t tell how bad it is.” Warriors gives a solemn nod and doesn’t hesitate in striding to where Legend lies.

“He wouldn’t wake up,” Hyrule says shakily. His eyelids are growing heavy and he can’t muster the strength to keep the distress from his voice, “I- I tried, but he wouldn’t.”

“He’ll be okay,” Warriors assures him, the steadiness of his tone like an anchor in a stormy sea, “We’ll give him a red potion and he’ll be on his feet in no time.”

“Oh,” says Hyrule faintly, “that’s a relief.”

He keeps his eyes fixed on Legend as Warriors picks him up bridal style so as not to disturb his injuries too much. He has a vague thought about how utterly mortified Legend would be if he were awake right now before Sky helps him off the floor and slides an arm around his waist to steady him.

“We’re on Outset Island?” Hyrule asks, unable to keep the hope from his voice.

Sky nod.

“Yep. We saw the ship coming from miles away, we were well prepared. The others are checking the hull for stragglers.”

“Did you kill them all?” he asks quietly as they begin to move from the small storage cabin and out into the corridor beyond, “the pirates?”

“I think so,” replies Sky somberly. It’s never cause for celebration, killing those who were not created monsters at birth.

Hyrule nods, concentrating on putting one foot in front of another and keeping from putting too much of his weight on Sky. He can’t remember ever being this exhausted.

“Um... guys?”

Warriors’ voice comes from slightly ahead and as he and Sky turn a corner, they almost bump into him halted in the hallway.

Ahead of him is possibly the last thing Hyrule wants to see in this moment: the pirate captain. His hulking frame takes up almost the entire width and height of the hallway, towering above all three of them by a significant amount. His eye is vicious steel as he glares right at Hyrule.

“My men are dead,” he says in a tone that is bone-chillingly impassive, “I told you what I would do if you lied to me.” His eye flickers to Warriors and where Legend lies in his arms.

“Technically, I didn’t lie,” Hyrule reasons.

“You will not leave this ship alive,” he replies bluntly.

“Sky?” Warriors asks calmly, “you got this on your own? My hands are a little full.”

“No problem,” Sky replies lightly before leading Hyrule to the wall for balance and drawing the master sword.

The captain draws his own sword from his back, a huge, curved blade with a single edge sharper and more lethal looking than Hyrule has ever owned in his life. As Sky approaches him, he seems utterly dwarfed by the monster of the man in front of him, but he thrusts himself into the battle as if he is assured the upper hand.

The captain is, surprisingly, more of a match for Sky than Hyrule had expected considering he’s the best swordsman of them all. He is holding his own well, and though Hyrule would usually be entertained by such a fight, knowing in his heart that in the end his friend will win without much of an issue, he is tired and hungry and simply fed up. He wants this fight to end so he can get Legend a red potion and go to sleep, preferably for a very long time.

Making a split-second decision, he heaves himself from where he is leaning against the wall and staggers towards Warriors. His friend looks at him with alarm as he approaches drunkenly with determined fire in his eyes, but he does nothing when Hyrule reaches up and slides his sword right off his back.

“Er… Hyrule?” he asks in confusion. But Hyrule isn’t listening. He turns towards Sky and the captain; the latter’s back is turned towards him now and sweat drips from Sky’s face as he slashes and parries while simultaneously avoiding his opponents hooked hand which he uses as a second weapon in its own right.

Realistically, Hyrule knows Sky has this fight in the bag, and he is also aware that what he’s about to do is widely considered very bad etiquette. But as he raises Warriors’ sword above his head and stabs it straight through the back of the pirate’s mismatched coat and into his heart, he honestly feels very little in the way of regret.

Later he will reflect on this moment, consider what it means that he could kill his own kind so easily and with so little remorse. But for now his body sags over the hilt of the sword still buried in the pirates back, his body unwilling to spare him even the strength to retrieve it. Crimson flows and gathers around it the metal in his hands, making it warm and sticky and Sky’s shocked face appears as he steadies him.

“I think I’ll pass out now,” he tells him lightly.

“That’s okay,” Sky replies, “I’ve got you.”

And he falls beneath the waves of darkness.

-----

The first thing Hyrule notices when he wakes is that the world does not rock. It is blissfully, liberatingly still. The sound of waves is distant and peaceful rather than sickeningly close and seagull’s cries assure him that he has indeed found solid land once more.

He opens his eyes to a simple room of rough-hewn wood. Sunlight pours from the window and across the bed he lies in, the sheets smooth with a colourful quilt thrown carefully over the top. It would be peaceful if his head wasn’t aching so fiercely.

There is a jug and a cup of water on the nightstand beside him and he is quick to grab it with listless, heavy limbs. The water is a cool relief down his parched throat, though it makes him feel a little nauseous as it settles in his empty stomach.

He is about to pour himself another cup when he spots Legend sitting by the window. He is facing out towards the sea view and even though his back is to him, he can see the quiet melancholy in his posture. Physically though, Hyrule is relieved to notice, he seems fine.

“Legend?” he asks quietly, his voice cracking either from lack of hydration or use; he doesn’t know how long he had been asleep. Legend starts and brings a hand up to rub his face before turning to face him.

“You’re awake,” he notes, his voice just as hoarse as his own, “how are you feeling?”

“Not the best,” Hyrule admits, “but much better than before. Are you okay? Did the others fix you up with red potions?”

Legend nods. “Woke up about an hour ago. We’re at Wind’s Grandma’s house. Wind was right; her soup is the best I’ve tasted.”

His word are dull and somewhat distant. Hyrule frowns slightly.

“Are you really alright?” he asks gently.

Legend nods slowly, his eyes drifting back to the window, and it is a long moment before he speaks again.

“I thought we were going to die out there,” he admits eventually.

“Me too,” he agrees.

“For the record… it made it better for me as well. You being there. You’re… well, you’re my best friend, Hyrule.”

Hyrule smiles at Legend’s awkward, stilted version of his own confession out there on the little dinghy. To others, it might not seem like much, but Hyrule knows him well enough that he recognises that this is Legend’s equivalent of pouring his heart out.

“I’ve never had a best friend before,” Hyrule muses. “It’s kind of nice, isn’t it?”

Legend huffs in amusement turning back to face him, his ears noticeably red.

“Yeah,” he says. “It is kind of nice.”

#LULinktober #linked universe #lyra writes #blood #injury #violence #i've decided not to post the rest of my october prompts as they're not up to standard #this will be the last one this month

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