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smilesrobotlover · 7 months

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Whumptober day 4- Shock

Ok I did as much research on this as possible and idk if it is actually accurate but I tried. Some of the stuff that is inaccurate can be assumed because they don’t know what they’re doing lol. Anyways, king of the Gerudo stuff! Centered around Orman, Ammon, and Terrako! Important to note that Ammon has a Sheikah prosthetic. Also fair warning, there is an electrical shock. Lofty, you know what’s about to happen….

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Terrako sprinted across the ruins, hopping when he reached a strange looking pedestal on the other side. Orman and Ammon slowly followed the little guardian, cautious of their surroundings. They were investigating ruins found near the castle, and Orman was surprised at how unique the ruins were. He’s seen many Sheikah ruins, and even the legendary Zonai ruins, but they didn’t look anything like this. Inside the ruins, there were strange lights that lit up the place, and even though it was filled with debris, it was surprisingly empty, save for the pedestal Terrako was at.

“What is this place?” Ammon muttered underneath his breath. Orman shrugged and walked over to Terrako, noting an electric circuit near a door.

“What is that?” Ammon asked.

“Dunno. Looks like it keeps the door open.”

“How is it still working after all these years?”

“I don’t know.”

Ammon put his hands on his hips and gave Orman a teasing smile.

“Why don’t you know anything?”

“Because I like to remain blissfully ignorant. Now come on.”

Ammon stared at the door for a moment before catching up to Orman.

“What exactly are we looking for anyways?” He asked when he reached the pedestal.

“Dunno, we need to investigate this place and report back whatever we’ve found, so that’s what we’re doing.”

“Investigate… investigate what?”

“Investigate something, I don’t know. Didn’t you listen to Rhoam during the briefing?”

Ammon scoffed and crossed his arms, looking around for a moment. “Welp, there’s nothing here. We can go home now.”

“Hold on now, we haven’t seen everything.”

Ammon groaned and spun around, staring down the empty room. “It’s just an empty room.”

“An empty room with technology still working! I’m sure that’ll be useful information.” Terrako beeped in response and Orman rubbed his little head. “See? The guardian agrees with me!”

Ammon rolled his eyes. “Just get him to record everything so we can leave.”

“Sure thing,” Orman put his hands on his knees and looked at the little guardian. “Ok Terrako, be a good little guardian and record everything so Ammon doesn’t blow a fuse!”

“Hey!”

Terrako made some beeps that Orman assumed was giggling, and he chuckled while Ammon huffed.

“Just wait until Rhoam hears about this. Harassment while on the job is no joke, you know!”

Orman smiled and rolled his eyes while Terrako looked around at some debris. He himself stared at the pedestal, having to agree with Ammon that there was nothing special of note here. He watched Terrako while Ammon continued to complain, curious at what the guardian was doing. Terrako studied every piece of rubbish and debris left in the ruin, and the little guardian found itself near a wall with a strange mark on it. Orman titled his head and walked over to Terrako, eyeing the symbol.

“What is that?” Ammon asked, not moving from his spot. Orman knelt down and brushed his hand against the symbol.

“You ask a lot of questions, Ammon.” He pulled back his hand to look at the dust on his gloves. Ammon scoffed and turned back around.

“I ask a lot of questions you don’t know the answers to apparently,” he grumbled to himself.

“It’s a mysterious ruin that has stuff we don’t understand, how do you expect me to know everything?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you know?”

“I’ve never seen it before!”

“Sounds like a weakness to me…”

“You’re a weakness to me.”

“No you are!”

Orman burst out laughing and Ammon did the same. Such ridiculous banter, what were they? Children? Terrako made a beep noise and Orman rested his hand on his head.

“What is it, little one?” He asked, and Terrako continued beeping, staring at the symbol on the wall. Orman narrowed his eyes as Terrako’s beeping got strange.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared, and electricity burst out from the symbol, hitting Terrako. Orman yelped and jumped back from the guardian as electricity spewed out of him. The lights in the ruin went out one by one, and all the technology started to spew out electricity and shutting down. Including…

Orman gasped as he spun around and saw Ammon’s prosthetic arm spew out electricity. His whole body convulsed and he collapsed to the ground, his muscles continuing to spazz.

“AMMON!” Orman cried, running to his friend. He grabbed his spear and brought it down on the emergency release button on the prosthetic, releasing it from Ammon’s arm. He ripped Ammon’s sleeve off and threw the prosthetic far away from both of them. “Ammon,” his voice shook as his hand hovered over his friend. His eyes fluttered open, and he stared up at the ceiling, dazed. He wasn’t unconscious, that was good, but it didn’t mean that the injury wasn’t serious. Orman listened closely to his breathing as he checked Ammon’s nub, cringing at the burns on where the skin was in contact with the prosthetic. That looked painful.

“Ok,” he whispered, “what do I do, what do I do?” He stared at the arm for a moment, then reached into his pouch and grabbed a bright bloom seed, smacking it on the ground to light up the area he was in.

“Ammon,” he said as calmly as he could, and Ammon looked over at him. “Are you feeling alright?”

Ammon frowned, taking in a shaky breath. “I—I can't feel my arm…”

Orman stared at him for a moment, then pursed his lips. “Which one? You’re kind of missing one of them.”

Ammon glared at him and Orman looked down.

“I guess you still have some of it…”

Ammon took in another shaky breath. “It feels… numb…”

“Well, I’m not surprised. Just focus on breathing alright? I’ll take care of this.”

Ammon nodded slightly, and Orman listened to his struggled breaths. That wasn’t good that he was struggling to breathe, but he could worry about it when it got concerning. He pulled out his canteen and began pouring it onto his burns. When his water emptied out, he grabbed Ammon’s canteen and emptied that as well. He then grabbed bandages he had in his pouch and gently laid them over his burned nub. He checked Ammon’s breathing again, and it seemed to have evened out.

“Ammon? How are you feeling now?” He asked.

Ammon shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut. “Like sh—“

Orman jumped when he heard a loud beep coming from Terrako, and he spun around to see the little guardian beginning to wake up. He sighed, and looked down at Ammon who was beginning to sit up.

“It’s just Terrako,” he muttered, and Ammon nodded.

“Ok… we should get out of here before something like that happens again,” Ammon said, laying back down when he wasn’t strong enough to sit up

Orman looked at the door that they came through and sighed.

“I don’t think that’s gonna happen any time soon.”

“What do you mean?”

Orman stood up and walked over to the door. “The door is shut.”

Ammon groaned. “Are you serious?”

“All the technology here shut down, including the door that you showed no interest in earlier.” He looked over at Terrako who was beeping slowly and barely moving. “I doubt he could open up this door in his state.”

“Wonderful… we’re stuck here…”

Orman walked over to Ammon and watched him carefully. He looked exhausted, and his expression was pinched in pain.

“You alright?”

“No…”

Orman rested his hand on his shoulder. They needed to find a way out, Orman would feel much better if an actual doctor took a look at him. Maybe princess Mipha or Queen Kailani would be able to help him. But he couldn’t do anything while stuck in here. He looked over at Terrako who began to crawl towards them, and he hummed.

“Terrako, do you have enough energy to call for help?”

Terrako beeped and Ammon sighed. “Shouldn’t he… save his energy… to open up the door?”

“It might take too long to do that. If we could call for help on the Sheikah slate, maybe someone can come for us?”

“Will that… even work?”

“I don’t know! Technology is weird, so it might!”

“Ah… well… let’s hope… so…”

Orman looked at Ammon worried as he began to drift off. He panicked for a moment and shook him gently.

“Hey, I don’t know if it’s safe for you to sleep, Ammon.”

Ammon groaned and kept his eyes closed, and Orman shook him again.

“Come on Ammon, please don’t fall asleep. I—I don’t know if I’ll be able to wake you up.”

Ammon opened his blue eyes and gave Orman a blank look. Orman sighed.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re tired, but I’m not taking any chances until we can get out…”

Ammon sighed, annoyed and rested his head back, staring at the ceiling. Orman smiled slightly, then looked back at Terrako, who was barely moving. He didn’t know what the right thing to do was. They needed to get out to help out Ammon, but Terrako seemed to have used up all his energy on crawling towards them. Waiting for him to be strong enough to send a signal or to open the door would take too long, but what else was he supposed to do? And which one would be the fastest option? Orman groaned and leaned back against the rock, feeling his mouth drying up. Just great. He used up all of his and Ammon’s water to deal with the burn. They really couldn’t stay for long. Terrako beeped and began crawling to a wall, examining it.

“Hey, don’t send another electric shock through the building,” Orman warned. Terrako beeped again and clawed at the wall, and Orman gasped when some of it crumbled away. He shot up and knelt at the wall, pushing some of the rocks away. He felt a draft from a gap in the rocks and he cheered. “I think I found a way out!” Terrako made an offended beep and Orman chuckled. “Sorry. Terrako found a way out.”

Ammon cheered tiredly as Orman began moving the rocks out of the way, feeling the fresh air hit his face as the wall crumbled away, and soon there was a big enough hole for Orman to crawl through. He jogged over to Ammon who had his eyes closed, and Orman’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hey,” he shook him, a little too aggressively, and Ammon groaned. “I’m sorry, but I need you to stay awake.”

Ammon glared at him, lifting himself up shakily. Orman helped him sit up and he pointed to the hole.

“Do you think you could crawl through that hole?”

“Yeah, yeah I can do that,” Ammon muttered, slowly standing up with Orman’s help. But when he took a step, his knees buckled, and Orman nearly yelped when he caught him.

“Ok, just wait here…” Orman gave Ammon a pat on the shoulder before standing up and grabbing Ammon’s arm. He then took his belt and Ammon’s belt and strapped the exhausted Terrako to his chest. He swung Ammon’s arm over his shoulders and walked over to the hole.

“I’m fine, Orman. I can crawl through on my own,” Ammon said, sounding more sure of himself this time. Orman nodded, figuring Ammon needed to get used to his legs a little more. Orman went in first, sighing with relief when he was outside, and helped Ammon crawl out. He stood up, helping Ammon on his feet and looked at the castle.

“How are we gonna explain this?” Orman muttered to himself, thinking about what they found at the ruins. “The weird electrical shock, the symbol that caused all this… all of it…”

“Just tell Rhoam Terrako did it,” Ammon said, causing Terrako to make an offended beep. “Hey, I’m not technically wrong.”

Orman chuckled at the two and pulled Ammon’s arm slightly.

“Well, we have time to figure it out, come on, you need help.”

Ammon nodded and stuck close to Orman’s side as they began walking towards castle town. Orman kept a close eye on his dear friend, the feeling of worry never really going away even as he walked along the field. But he supposed that there was not much else he could do except to make sure he was well enough to make it to a healer. Until then, all he could do was worry.

#king of the Gerudo #hate it when I look up an injury and google is like #‘seek professional help’#ok but like. what do I do in the meantime? or what do I do if I’m hypothetically stuck in a ruins with all technology shut down???#what do I do then????#lol anyways #smiles writes #whumptober #whumptober day 4 #whumptober 2023 #I mean Orman really doesn’t know what he’s doing #Sheikah technology is supposed to not conduct electricity anyways #and then boom #it explodes electricity #maybe It really is safe for Ammon to sleep but idk that so Orman doesn’t know that and he’s not taking any chances

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sittingoverheredreaming · 1 year

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Below the cut is speculation having to do in part with the TOTK artbook leak along with the most recent trailer, so proceed with caution!

To start, I am convinced at this point that there will be seven sages in the game and that the glowing patterns on the ground are images of the sages.

Easiest is this one:

I think it’s pretty clearly the creature from the mural and who we get a good shot of in the latest trailer

And who per the artbook is Rauru. The artbook doesn’t specify he’s the sage of light (I think, at least), but I don’t think there’s an chance he isn’t.

Next is the one that got me on this train of thought, and it’s actually visible in both the gameplay video and the last trailer:

It’s Sidon! (Just his head, with the tail fin curled around the bottom)

I figured I was reading into it too much when I first thought it looked like him, but since he’s confirmed to be back and playing a major role, I don’t think I am.

There are a few I can’t quite place:

Maybe it's a stretch, but I think the first one could be Yunobo (why is he not in the trailers??), stylized with his arms exaggerated to be even bigger than they really are

Along with the two I can't place, there should be two more to bring the total to seven (there is one more that we've seen, but I'm getting to that). Two should be Riju and Tulin, and then one should be a Shiekah. I actually think it won't be Impa. Purah (who has begun aging again) and Paya are both strong candidates. I think it’s likely that this game has a theme of new people taking up the mantle, as we see with Tulin being a companion instead of Teba, Sidon wearing his father’s crown, even just all the regular Hylians taking a stand. I think there may be a Korok sage as well, given that they seem to be more integrated into the world now, or the final one is Ganondorf himself, given that he seems to have one of the Tears.

But that would bring us to seven sages WITHOUT Zelda.

And without the final pattern we've seen:

This could be Zelda. I think, though, that both it and the woman in the mural are not Zelda, and instead are the woman we see a shot of in the last trailer:

I believe this is Hylia, and that Hylia is the eighth sage/eighth heroine, come to break the cycle for good. Hyrule is changing, the Master sword is broken, Link is no longer fighting alone. It's time to finally give her people peace, not through her mortal incarnation (Zelda), but with her true self.

However, I think Rauru and/or the Zonai as a whole will misinterpret these images to be Zelda, which is why they take her and dress her in the same clothes Hylia is in. (I think the haircut may be both a visual clue that Zelda is not the person depicted, and a sign that she is moving towards being a person separate from the destiny all Zeldas have been tied to since Hylia incarnated as Zelda/Demise's curse). Alternatively, Rauru/the Zonai may know it's Hylia, and be trying to summon her or draw her fully into this incarnation of Zelda.

But however it goes, I do think Tears of the Kingdom is the end of the cycle. The ouroboros in the logo represents all of Hyrule's history, but after this it will finally be able to follow a new path.

#tears of the kingdom #totk #totk speculation #botw2 #tloz #the legend of zelda

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transskywardsword · 8 months

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Spider Meet Fly/Fly Meet Spider - Chapter Eleven: The Gerudo Advisor

Naboris arrives, as does a baby

read the full story on ao3 here

The Gerudo caravan arrived just before lunch, only a few hours after the disaster that had been Link and Rauru’s training session, bringing Naboris with it. Link hadn’t been sure what to imagine when he pictured meeting the Gerudo woman—maybe someone like Urbosa, big and bold and brash? Or Buliara, cold and rough, but with a brave heart? The woman he saw come through the main gates on a beautiful, sandy stallion was not what Link imagined. She was older than Link expected, even older than Ganondorf, at least in her 50’s. Her red hair was long, but not styled, instead tied back in two simple bubble braids. She lacked the brash ornamentation of Twinrova, her white clothing unusual for a Gerudo, where bright colors were the norm and black and red and green signified nobility or importance. The only colorful thing about her was her lipstain, which was as green as Farosh’s scales. She moved simply, without Buliara’s weight or Urbosa’s grace. If Link didn’t know any better, he would have said she was just some traveler.

Ganondorf was not the first to greet her. Instead, Rauru was waiting at the gates, smile wide and arms open.

“Advisor Naboris,” He said, “It is fantastic to finally meet on pleasant circumstances, for once.”

The Gerudo woman curtsied.

“King Rauru. I’m happy to hear my Chief has chosen to put violence behind us.”

“Aye. It is truly a momentous occasion.”

“A united continent. You must be proud.”

“Simply humbled to be trusted with the hearts of my people,” Rauru said, and the corner of Naboris’ mouth twitched. Link thought it might have been her idea of a smile.

“You remember her Majesty, Queen Sonia, of course—” Rauru started, and beside him, Sonia, who was in far better spirits than Link was after that morning, blushed as Naboris took her hand.

“How could I forget such beauty?” The Gerudo said, before bringing Sonia’s knuckles to her lips. Sonia giggled, and the Gerudo aids beside Naboris rolled their eyes.

“It’s hard to feel beautiful when you’re the size of an octo balloon.”

“Nonsense. To bring a child into this world is an honor like no other—you should be proud.”

“Flirt,” One of Naboris’ guards murmured to another in Gerudo. The other woman elbowed her partner in the side.

“Quiet. The royals are talking.”

“And you—you are new. Boy, what’s your name? Has King Rauru finally taken up a steward?”

“This is a visiting friend,” Rauru said, and Link nodded.

“My name is Link. It is a pleasure.” He signed, and Naboris nodded.

“Likewise, little swordsman.” She signed, and Link’s eyes widened.

“You don’t need to—I can hear. Verbality can just be difficult sometimes.”

“Would you prefer it if I did sign? I find that it can be quite difficult to be the only different one in court.”

Link blinked. He’d never had anyone offer such a thing. He hadn’t even considered it to be an option.

“Your offer is kind, and appreciated, but unnecessary,” He finally signed, and Naboris nodded.

“Now,” she said, clapping her hands together, “where is that nephew of mine?”

“Skulking,” Rauru said, offering an arm, which Naboris graciously took.

“Unsurprising. Has he shown any manners? I worry about that boy.”

Rauru gave a tense smile. “Things have been a tad rocky, but it is to be expected. High emotion and high-stress situations… they make even the strongest of men struggle.”

“Ah. So, he’s been a right bastard.”

Rauru chucked, and Link thought the Zonai king looked rather relieved under all that fur. “I wouldn’t say that much.”

Naboris waved him off, turning instead of Sonia.

“So, tell me, dear, when are you due?”

Sonia smiled, resting a hand on her swollen stomach.

“A week or two now.”

“Then why on earth are you on your feet? King Rauru, you horrible husband, why are you letting her walk around? You should be in bed being fed sweet things and having your feet rubbed!”

Sonia giggled, and Naboris’ hand drifted to the woman’s stomach.

“They are going to be wise, I can tell you that much. I can sense greatness in their blood. Have you decided on a name?”

“I want Zelda, but Rauru has protested the thought.”

“I think we should go with a Zonai name—something strong, regal—”

“Zelda is the name of a Goddess’ vessel, is that not regal enough?”

Rauru huffed. “Not now, darling.”

Sonia rolled her eyes—this was clearly a well-worn argument, and she didn’t seem all that upset by Rauru’s words. Naboris stopped as they turned a corner, the entourage of Gerudo guards and aids trailing behind them as the four of them moved towards one of the meeting rooms.

“Ganondorf Dragmire,” Naboris said, voice echoing through the corridor despite not being raised, “Come here, you beast.”

“Advisor Naboris!”

There, at the end of the corridor, flanked by guards and led by the Hylian-Zonai servant who had been sent to fetch him and bring him to the Gerudo entourage, was Ganondorf. He looked different—the Gerudo caravan had brought with it new clothes, face paints, and a diadem that now sat proudly on Ganondorf’s forehead. With the kohl lining his eyes, flowing folds of black, green, and red fabric, and golden jewelry that hung off his wrists and biceps, he looked every bit the king that he was, and it took Link by surprise. Objectively, he had known that Ganondorf was royalty, but looking at him like this… Ganondorf was beautiful, in the same sharp, deadly way a desert thunderstorm was. Naboris cupped her empty hands over her heart and bowed sharply at the waist for a count of three, and while Ganondorf didn’t return the bow, the solemn lowering of his head said enough. Then, as soon as Naboris righted herself, he burst into a run, much to the alarm of the Hylian-Zonai guards, and barreled into the Gerudo woman.

“Imagine my surprise,” she said, “when I revive two messengers back to back—one to tell me that my chief had declared war without my input, and another to tell me that not a day later he was prepared to join Hyrule. Were it any other woman, I would be aghast at their insistence on making decisions without the words of their council and their head advisor. But when have you ever respected my words?”

“Always, auntie.”

“Ah, lies, lies, all of it,” Naboris said, waving a hand, and Ganondorf grinned, honest to Goddess grinned, and Link struggled to connect this man with the raging, furious king from earlier that morning. He seemed bright, happy, almost jovial, and it was, frankly, bizarre to see.

“Is Mars with you?”

“Is—it Mars? That is what you concern yourself over?”

“Well?”

Naboris waved her hand dismissively. “Of course, of course, I couldn’t leave Mars behind.”

“We’ll fetch her for you,” Rauru said, “and have her brought to the meeting room. Is she a guard? Servant?”

Naboris chuckled. “I’m afraid that’s not possible, your Majesty. Mars isn’t a Gerudo, he’s a horse.”

Rauru blinked. “A horse.”

“Yes,” Ganondorf said, voice bright. “A war horse. A battle stallion bred for only the greatest of warriors. He’s a magnificent beast, a horse like no other. I need to see him, immediately.”

“What you need is to sit down and talk politics with your voices of reason beside you. Come, I’m sure King Rauru has been waiting for ages to draft an official treaty. Shall we, your Majesty?”

“I would be happy to,” Rauru, and Ganondorf pouted—pouted! Link had to fight back a disbelieving snort. The expression looked so, so wrong on the massive man, laughably so, yet it lingered there as Ganondorf crossed his arms.

“Naboris, I need to see my horse.” He said, crossing his arms in front of him, and the much smaller woman scoffed.

“Perhaps we can make a detour?” Sonia said lightly, though there was still a hesitancy in her voice. The oppressive air of the morning hadn’t lifted, and even with the childishness of Ganondorf’s current actions, he still radiated something uncomfortable. Ganondorf’s eyes brightened.

“A detour, yes!”

Naboris rolled her eyes and with an exaggerated movement turned to Rauru.

“Your Majesty, may we please make a small detour to the stables? Or is that too far out of the way?”

Rauru’s face lost a bit of its strain, and the Zonai smiled. “I shall tell someone to redirect the council and to a closer meeting hall, and while we wait I’m sure no one would protest to a moment of relaxation”

Ganondorf lit up like the first sunset firefly of the summer season, all wide eyes and wider smile, and took off marching down the hall before coming to a stop, sheepishly remembering that he had no idea where the stables were. Link couldn’t help the little laugh that slipped free, and Ganondorf’s face twitched. He looked over his shoulder at Link, and Link drew himself up, lifting his chin. It didn’t do much—Link was already short on a good day, maybe 5’2’’ if he really tried hard to round to the whole number, and next to Ganondorf’s bulk, he seemed beyond tiny. Still, he met the Gerudo king’s eye, gaze hard, and the man had the gall to look guilty.

Link’s throat still hurt from speaking so much while crying. Usually, intense emotion shut down his voice, closing up his throat and sealing his teeth shut, but the desperation, the need to explain, defend, do something had helped force the words out earlier; still, Link had a feeling that he was done speaking for the near future.

Link knew he wasn’t as quiet now as he had been on his adventure, and certainly not as quiet as he had been in the Before. Back then, he had been nearly silent—he didn’t communicate with signs, with writing, with anything, just stared blankly ahead and did what was asked of him. He was the swordsman, the Hero, the bearer of the Sword—he wasn’t there to have an opinion, to have free thought, he was there to swing where he was pointed. So, swing he did, with his brain locked up and shoved somewhere in the depths of his skull, until the princess, with her sass and her anger and her desperation, unlocked it.

The first time Link communicated properly with her outside of pointing and gestures, he wrote three words in the sand:

I forgive you.

They had been outside Kara Kara Bazzar, both of them exhausted and soaked in sweat. The Yiga bodies had long since been disposed of, dragged out into the wastes to be food for hungry desert wolves and coyotes, and Zelda had spent most of the day since the attempted attack hidden away in their tent—not the inn, which was now off limits, Link unsure who they could trust outside of Gerudo Town or who could be a Yiga in disguise. Instead, he had set up a large, sprawling tent with Link sitting at its only entrance, Master Sword resting on his knees. Link had been hyper-vigilant, eyes never leaving the sands and ears pretending they didn’t hear Zelda’s panicked breaths and almost-sobs as she recovered on her own from the assassination attempt. Finally, as night came and a chill replaced the boiling heat, she had emerged from the tent, hands fidgety and eyes flighty. Anxious. Nervous. Unusual for her.

“I should… I should apologize. I have been cruel to you. I have spoken poorly of you—to you—and you have done nothing to warrant such actions.” She had said softly, and Link had looked at her in surprise. He simply nodded, turning his eyes back to the sand, waiting for her to leave, but instead, she sat, her legs brushing his.

“I studied astrology when I was a child.” She whispered, looking at the reflection of the stars on Kara Kara’s reservoir. “I would make up stories for the constellations because I thought the ones already there were boring.”

Link had been silent, like usual, and waited for Zelda’s huffy sigh, for her to get frustrated and stand. Instead, she sat and spoke, telling the stories of constellations that she invented long before the Calamity was even a whisper on the breeze.

“I understand if you hate me,” She’d said after a long stretch of silence. “I would hate me, too. But I want you to know that I am. Sorry, I mean. Truly.”

Link had looked at her, really looked, studied the face he had protected for so long, before raising a finger and, with careful movements of his wrist, wrote ‘I forgive you’ into the sand.

Had that really been so long ago? In his head, the memory was fuzzy but still hung heavy with the weight of importance.

He should have made the Calamity suffer more than he did.

Link kept his head straight ahead as the group walked to the south, pointedly not looking at Ganondorf, whom he noticed kept glancing towards him. Link did not return the gaze. Instead, he tried to imagine what Ganondorf’s horse would look like. It had to be massive if it was going to support such a mammoth of a man, and Link pictured a truly majestic beast. Ganondorf would want only the best of the best, though Link had a hard time picturing the king caring for it himself. That’s what servants were for, Link supposed.

Link missed Safflina. She was far from a beautiful horse, her brown coat simple and her main short, her rump scarred from the time she spent imprisoned in a bokoblin camp before Link liberated her and made her his. Saf had been rescued from bokoblins early in Link’s adventure, when Link had little to his name other than a tattered old shirt, a pot lid, and a hundred years of pent-up rage, and had taken one look at the abused horse and saw red. One pack of bokoblin corpses left to rot in the summer sun later, Safflina was being tacked up at a stable with retired to a life of devotion and luxury. She was a simple mare, but she was his, and Link loved her.

Was Zelda taking good care of her?

The stables were far from the simple corrals of the ones back home—they were massive, stretching seemingly forever with animals ranging from horses to giant birds the likes of which Link had never seen before. And there, fighting the Hylian stable hand who was trying to remove its tack, was the largest horse Link had ever seen.

20 hands tall at the least, with a mane of fiery red and a pitch charcoal coat, Mars was the largest horse Link had ever, ever seen. Ganondorf all but jumped over to the stallion, shoving aside the struggling stable hand and grabbing hold of the stallion’s face. It quieted instantly, shoving playfully at its owner, and Ganondorf laughed.

“Precious boy,” he cooed—cooed!—in Gerudo, “Have you been lonely without me? All those nasty Hylians don’t know how to care for a prince, do they? They don’t, no they don’t.”

Sonia glanced to her husband, who glanced back, eyes equally wide. The confusion was obvious, even under the fur and regal disposition, and Naboris rolled her eyes.

“You’d think they’d been separated for months on end, not a few days,” She said, and Link’s lip quirked. It was hard to connect the gushing, ecstatic man in from of him with the fuming, vicious one from just a few hours earlier, and Link wasn’t sure how to feel. Link stepped forward, hand extended, and offered an open palm to Mars. Ganondorf eyed his fingers.

“He bites.” He said, and Link smiled. Mars stepped forward, sniffing Link’s palm, before butting its snout into his hand. He snorted as Link rubbed the satin of his nose, and Link’s smile grew to a grin.

What a beautiful boy.

Link’s hand crept upwards, smoothing his fingers across the animal’s forehead and burying them into his mane. The smell of horse and the feeling of rough, coarse hair was a balm to the homesickness that still lingered in Link’s chest.

“You spend time with horses, boy?” Ganondorf asked, and Link glared at him. He did not answer. Link’s signs were a privilege, and Link speaking certainly was, and Ganondorf had lost both of those. Instead, he pressed a kiss to the velvet of Mars’ nose.

Behind the two of them, Sonia, Rauru, and Naboris were making small talk, and Link chose to ignore them. He breathed in the softness, the woodiness, the wild that hung off Mars. It was a familiar, bittersweet smell. Link had spent more and more time in civilization over the past 5 years, following Zelda as she worked to rebuild Hyrule, and while he would never resent those years, would never regret the time spent by her side, he’d become so used to being alone in the wild in the time before he freed Zelda that so much time surrounded by people was… overwhelming. He missed the quiet sometimes, the wide, open world, so barren yet so full of life. Mars smelled like that open world, and Link breathed it in deeply.

The royals and advisor were still talking when Ganondorf piped up, “I’m going to take him in to remove his tack. Link—would you join me?”

Link’s face soured, and Ganondorf sighed.

“Please?”

Link finally met his gaze. Ganondorf’s eyes were soft, pained, and drooping, his brows furrowed, and Link’s frown grew.

He pressed his fingers under his chin and flicked outward.

Fuck you.

Ganondorf winced. He glanced at Naboris, who was watching from the corner of her eye, her green lips curved down, red brows in forced neutrality. She cocked her head and Ganondorf swallowed.

“I apologize,” He said, “I have been cruel to you. I have spoken poorly of you—to you—and you have done nothing to warrant such actions.”

The familiarness of the words, so close to Zelda’s yet so different, left Link’s gut tight.

“I let my fear become anger when it should have become empathy. Instead of approaching you with kindness, I allowed my duty as a king to cloud my vision. I was cruel. There is no other word to describe it.”

Link looked up to Ganondorf, trying to make himself seem large despite being dwarfed by the man. He looked down—up?—his nose at the Gerudo king, eyes narrowed.

“No. There isn’t.” He signed and Ganondorf swallowed.

“Link…”

Link wanted to scream. He wanted to shout and spit and insist that the apology wasn’t enough, but instead, his mouth was numb and his hands were heavy. Link didn’t consider himself a petty person, but Ganondorf hadn’t just insulted him—he had insulted Zelda and her struggles, and that was unacceptable.

“I do not forgive you.” Link signed cooly.

Ganondorf flinched.

“It is one thing to insult me and my efforts, but my princess? My Zelda? Unacceptable.”

“I—I understand.”

“Good.”

Link crossed his arms, and Ganondorf nodded.

“Regardless of if you forgive me, the apology stands. I am sorry. Truly, I am.”

Link patted Mars one last time. Suddenly, quiet enough to be almost missed in the hubbub of the stables, came a sharp hiss. Link turned over his shoulder to Sonia, whose brow was tight.

“Sonia?” Rauru murmured, hands hovering over her, and Sonia brushed him off.

“Nothing, nothing. I’m fine. Just a cramp.”

Rauru looked unconvinced.

“Are you—”

“I’m fine. There are more important things to worry about right now, like leaving the Gerudo council waiting in our meeting hall. Link, Ganondorf, are you quite done?”

Link nodded, eyeing Sonia’s belly warily.

“Good, good,” She said. “Then let's—” something unsure flickered across her face for a moment, so quick that Link was almost unsure he saw it.

“Let us go,” Naboris finished for her. “Unless my nephew needs more time to coo over his horse?”

Ganondorf frowned at the older woman. “His tack—”

“Can be taken care of by the dozens of stable hands. You’ve had your fun. Let’s not keep the Seven waiting.”

---

The Council of the Gerudo was made of seven women, all with drooping faces, puffy eyes hardened by sun and sand, and long burning hair in elegant styles, hanging with gold. Link recognized the symbols they wore around their neck from the orbs he had so carefully moved around the Seven Heroine statues years ago.

Amenia. Berenice. Charmian. Faiza. Hanan. Iah. Khensa. Seven councilwomen, a tradition that Link knew had traced back to the first Seven Heroines, led by Naboris, the eighth, serving as Ganondorf’s guides and voices of reason.

Voice of reason. Such as, apparently, stopping him from acting without their input to invade a neighboring country, then immediately changing his mind. Now that Link knew for a fact that the Gerudo man had been acting without the input of his advisors well… well the rashness of the man, his mood swings, and biting actions made more sense. This was a man led by emotion first and foremost, with a dedication to his people that Link could respect, but when the two mixed it led to explosive decisions with lasting consequences that Ganondorf seemed unable to maneuver around. Anger at the Hylians? Invade. Realize it was a bad move for your people? Submit. Need aid and friendship in a hostile court? Ask Link for help.

Burn down that friendship in a handful of words instead of working together with this whole time travel bullshit? Well, let it be said that as smart as the man was, he wasn’t wise.

Link bristled, lasting anger prickling at his stomach. Still, he was probably being petty. Ganondorf had been scared, lashing out from a place of fear, and the man had apologized. Not the best apology, sure, but he had, and he had done it with an audience, something Link had a feeling hadn’t been easy for such a proud man.

Pride. Link had always struggled in that department, with Zelda (and Paya, and Sidon, and Riju, and Teba, and, and, and) telling him that he had the right to be proud of his accomplishments, of the good he’d done despite the odds.

(‘Despite the odds’ his ass; amnesia, an apocalypse, guardians, and Divine Beasts, and Ganon itself—he’d failed the first time around, and the reason the odds existed, to begin with, was because of that failure.)

(Hush, a voice in his head that sounded just like his princess said, You would never hold me to such a standard, so why should you hold yourself? The only one who should take the blame is Ganon. I wept for you when you died not so you could hate yourself but that you might live, and thrive.)

Link took a deep breath. Live and thrive. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his, or the Champions, or King Rhoam, or Zelda’s fault. It was Ganon’s, and Ganon’s alone.

At the round table in the meeting room, Rauru sat, Sonia at his side, with the seven councilwomen, Naboris, and Ganondorf surrounding them. Despite being outnumbered 9 to 2, Rauru looked confident, every bit the king he was, and beside him, Sonia shone.

Link hesitated at the edge of the table.

“Sit,” Sonia said with a smile.

“Not one for politics,” Link signed, feeling awfully out of place. “Besides, I’m no one important.”

“Nonsense! You’re important to us. Sit.”

Link swallowed nervously but sat.

Sonia tensed beside him suddenly, a sharp gasp escaping from between her teeth, a quick, hastily swallowed sound as Sonia’s grip on her chair suddenly went white. Rauru’s brow furrowed.

“My love—?”

“I’m fine. Continue.”

“Are you sure—?”

“I’m fine.”

Rauru looked unconvinced, but at his wife’s insistence, continued.

The air in the room suddenly changed as Rauru stood and cleared his throat.

“I’ve brought you here, today, to begin a series of discussions and, ultimately, decisions on the law of armed conflict, but also on the law of peace, of humanitarianism, the law of friendship, brotherhood, and connection.” Rauru started, and Naboris nodded, movement echoed by the councilwomen.

“I present myself, King Rauru of the Zonai, along with her Majesty, Queen Sonia of Hyrule, as the signers and drafters of this treaty, and enter into discussion on good faith and trust with you, Chief Ganondorf of the Gerudo, as well as your Royal Advisor and Council. Shall we proceed?”

Ganondorf stood, opening his hands above his heart and bowing low for a three count.

“I, Chief Ganondorf of the Gerudo, present myself, my blood, Royal Advisor Naboris, and my Council, Lady Amenia, Lady Berenice, Lady Charmian, Lady Faiza, Lady Hanan, Lady Iah, and Lady Khensa, as both witnesses and friends of this treaty and allyship.”

Rauru’s smile was blinding.

“I’m honored to hear it, Ganondorf.”

“As am I to be meeting with you, King Rauru.”

“Then—shall we begin?”

Link’s gaze lingered on Rauru as the group continued to talk. Link was never one for politics—he remembered little of his time in court with Zelda during the Before other than that listening to her converse with other leaders had been incredibly boring. This was proving to be the same. Rauru had produced papers from somewhere, going over line after line of promises and swears of fealty. Naboris spoke the most after the Zonai king, followed by Ganondorf, who was clearly comfortable deferring to his aunt. The other council members were silent, almost unnervingly so.

Beside Link, Sonia was still. Link kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye, and each moment he did she seemed slicker with sweat than the moment before. Her eyes were tight, a gloss over them that made Link nervous, and her breathing had gone shallow.

Suddenly, Sonia bit her lip hard, squeezing her fists tight, and glanced down.

Her face was a color Link had never seen on her before. Movement carefully so as not to distract from the conversation, she reached under the table and took Link’s hand.

“Link.” She said, voice very, very quiet, “I need you to do me a favor.”

Her skin, normally so warm and dark, was ashen. “I need you to leave without attracting any attention, then find the first servant you can and have them fetch Mineru and Healer Raji. Quickly.”

“Sonia—”

Sonia squeezed his hand, her eyes wide.

“Link. Please.”

There was movement on her lap, and Link’s eyes flickered to where she was clutching the fabric between her legs, expecting dampness or, something. He’d never seen someone’s water break but surely Sonia’s tenseness over the past hour was a sign of something that—

Red. The fabric was red.

Link stood. Rauru, Ganondorf, and Naboris continued to speak, and slowly Link itched his way out of the room. As soon as the door shut behind him, he broke into a run. It didn’t take long to find someone—short ears, patches of furless skin, a dip in the skull where her third eye should be—Luga.

“Oh! Hello, Sir Link, is something—”

“Mineru. Healer Raji. Quickly, I need them now.”

“Oh my, are you hurt? Please, let me see—”

“Not me, Sonia, I need them now.”

“Sonia?” Luga’s eyes went wide. “The baby.”

Link gave a panicked nod and the Zonai hiked up her skirts, grabbing Link’s wrist and taking off down the hallway.

“Help!” She shouted at the first person she saw, flagging them down. “I need help; every staff you see, have them track down Lady Mineru and Healer Raji. Bring them to the meeting room by the stables immediately.”

Unsurprisingly, it took very little time for the castle to go from silent, to abuzz, to a wildfire of activity, and almost less time for Mineru to come rushing down the hall, an impossibly tall Hylian woman with thick curls pulled up tight atop her head in tow.

“What’s going on?” Mineru said, voice panicky, and Link struggled to find the words.

“Sonia has shown signs of pain at least twice in the past hour, and then it seemed to get worse over the last fifteen or twenty minutes, and then she was bleeding and—”

“Take me to her,” the Hylian woman, Healer Raji, demanded, and Link nodded, turning on his heels and taking off down the hall, a growing entourage behind him. Each step seemed too slow, too short, not enough, and Link’s chest ached with something he didn’t want to think about as he led them to the meeting hall.

When Raji threw open the doors, Sonia was almost on the floor. She’d fallen from her chair, leaning on her husband with blood pooling around her. Her face was slick with sweat, her arms clutching tight around her belly, and Link realized with horror that the woman, the strong and supporting and upright woman he had come to respect and trust and love, was crying, silent tears dripping down her ashen cheeks, her eyes dangerously glassy and empty.

“How long have you been having contractions?” Raji demanded—not asked, but demanded, voice echoing through the room and leaving no room for disagreement—and Sonia whimpered, curling in around herself.

“It started a few hours ago, but I thought it was likely false labor again, like last time, but these are too close--i-it’s not supposed to go this fast, right?” She panted out, gasping in and out breathes every few words. Rauru scooped her up, uncaring of the blood smeared on his robes.

Raji waved him out of the room, but he was already moving. The two, followed by Link and Mineru, took off down the hall.

“Can you describe the pain?”

“Can I describe the pain? Damn it, Raji, it fucking hurts!”

“I understand, your Majesty. Are you able to tell me how far apart the contractions are?”

“Don’t… feel like… contractions anymore. Just, just pain.”

“Where?”

“Stomach… b-belly… back…”

“Back?”

Sonia nodded, biting her lip as another wave of pain racked through her.

Link was surprised by how gently Rauru was able to hold his wife while moving so fast. He cradled her to his chest, whispering sweet things in her ear that Sonia seemed unable to hear until they turned a corner into a bustling wing that Link had never seen before. It reeked of medicine. A medical ward then.

Mineru took Sonia’s hand as Rauru laid her down on a bed.

“Out,” Raji said, pointing to Link. “Now.”

“But—”

“If I have a potential placental abruption then I need all hands on deck and I do not need a clueless civilian stopping up the bottle neck. Lady Mineru and his Majesty are family, and they may remain as long as they are civil and helpful; you are not family. Out.”

“Raji—” Sonia breathed, “He’s fine.”

“No.”

“Raji—”

“No.”

Link nodded. “I understand.”

He turned, heart pounding, and wove in and out of the growing number of healers and doctors surrounding Sonia, moving outside the healing ward, and sliding down the wall, burying his face in his knees.

Deep breaths. Sonia would be fine. She had the best of the best, hopefully, with her, and they would take great care of her. It would take more than a pl—pla? Placental abrasion? Abruption? to take her down. She would be fine. Fine. Fine.

Link sat, letting himself drift in and out of the sounds of the ward just past the wide double doors beside him. It would be fine.

“She’s going to be fine.”

Link’s head shot up at the deep, rumbling voice.

“Come,” Ganondorf said, offering a hand. “Let’s find a distraction, why don’t we? Sitting and stressing will do nothing to help her.”

“The healer said it was a placent abrasion.”

Ganondorf cocked his head. “Placental abruption?”

“Yeah. That.”

“Do you know what it is?”

Link shook his head, and Ganondorf offered a hand. “It’s when the placenta disconnects from the uterine wall, causing significant hemorrhaging. Dangerous, but not impossible to recover from.”

“How do you—? Oh. Gerudo. All women.”

Ganondorf gave him a placating smile. “Yes. Come with me. We’ll find something to do.”

Link looked at Ganondorf’s large hand. He was still angry with the man, but a distraction sounded nice.

“I say we hit the library. I’m sure we can find some text on ancient magical swords and how to repair them.” Ganondorf said, voice surprisingly soft, the olive branch offered.

‘I’m still mad at you,’ Link was tempted to sign. Instead, he took Ganondorf’s hand. Ganondorf grinned, and if Link didn’t know any better, he’d call it unsettling.

---

The walk to the library was quiet. Link didn’t feel much like talking, and it was clear that Ganondorf was letting him take the lead. The library was a towering place, four stories tall with no walls on the upper stories, just open-air views of the gardens, including the ones Link had demolished with the secret stone.

Had it been wise to tell so much about the stones to Ganondorf? To give him a front-row seat into how they worked? Link truly believed that Ganondorf wanted what was best for his people which, at this time, meant peace, but something about the man’s curiosity set Link on edge. Sonia had been extending a hand, an acknowledgment of forgiveness, and acceptance, and Link respected that. She was trying more than Rauru, that was for sure, especially given her original distrust of the man.

Link observed Ganondorf as he perused the shelves. They were well labeled, clearly instructing curious readers to different sections of the library. The man looked at home amongst the scrolls and tombs, and for the first time, Link wondered what the man did in his free time. Was he a reader? A researcher? An academic? Perhaps a scholar, someone Zelda could share her depth of knowledge with.

Would she like Ganondorf? Link couldn’t be sure. The man was too moody to pin down, and Link wasn’t sure what to think of him, let alone what his princess would.

Would his name set her on edge?

Ganondorf’s disgust at the Calamity and destruction of the Gerudo had been enough to finally convince Link that the connection between the man and Ganon was a coincidence. No one could love their people so much, hold such a need for them to thrive, and also go to destroy them. The cognitive dissonance between the two motivations just didn’t make sense. Ganondorf was many things, many of them not positive, but he wasn’t Ganon. That much, Link was positive on.

“Here!” Ganondorf said, pulling a book from a towering shelf. “Hyrule Historia: A Collection of Hylian Mythos and History.”

“Isn’t mythos and history a bit of a strange combination?” Link signed, moving over to look. “Since one is real and the other isn’t?”

“Your sword isn’t mythos?”

Link bristled. “The Master Sword’s history is fact, no matter how fantastical.”

“Yes, but to the average civilian, it might seem as fantastical as myth, would it not?”

Link frowned. “I suppose.”

“The Eight Heroines are fact, yet they have become a myth in and of themselves, to the point where we celebrate their existence as if they were Goddesses and not real, living people. Is that disrespectful to their memory?”

Link shook his head. “No, but…”

“But?”

“It’s strange to think of something you can hold in your hand, that you can swing and stab with, that you can see with your own eyes as myth.”

“True. What do you know, then, of its creation?”

“The Chosen Hero forged it to destroy the Demon King and bring peace to what would become Hyrule.”

“Mhm. But the rest of it has been lost to time, has it not? Like a myth.”

“Like a myth.”

Would Link be a myth one day? Would Zelda? Would they fade into obscurity, their names and accomplishments all that was left of their lives? Their living, breathing thoughts and actions lost to time?

Was Link worthy of becoming a myth? Zelda certainly was. But was a failed knight…?

(Stop, the Zelda in his head said, if you’re are a failure then I am a failure, and we know that’s not true.)

Ganondorf passed over the book, and Link flipped it open. The Hero of Time—Link recognized that name from Zelda’s attempts to help him learn his letters through history books. The Hero of Twilight, the War of Ages, A Hero of Men… a lot of heroes, Link thought with an aborted laugh. Just how many times was Ganon going to rear its ugly head?

The Chosen Hero and his Holy Skyward Sword. Link ran his fingers across the title of the final chapter. Ganondorf leaned over his shoulder and began to read.

“This is a tale that you humans have passed down through uncounted generations... It tells of a war of unmatched scale and ferocity, the likes of which would never be seen again.

In the beginning, there were the Golden Goddesses: Din, the Goddess of Power, Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, the Goddess of Courage. Blessed with divine introspection, they created the land, its living creatures, and the knowledge of how to govern it, before retreating to the Heavens and leaving behind a Sacred Power, the Triforce. The power was without equal; it gave its holder the means to make any desire a reality. Knowing the danger and blessing the Triforce offered, the Golden Goddesses created their youngest Sister, Hylia, to watch over the Sacred Power and the land below.

All was well—

Until a dark, fateful day, when the earth cracked wide and malevolent forces rushed forth from the fissure. They mounted a brutal assault upon the surface people, driving the land into deep despair... They burnt forests to ash, choked the land’s sweet springs, and murdered without hesitation.

They did all this in their lust to take the Sacred Power protected by Her Grace, Hylia.

To prevent this great power from falling into the hands of the evil swarming the lands... The goddess gathered the surviving humans on an outcropping of earth. She sent it skyward, beyond the reach of the demonic hordes. Beyond even the clouds.

With the humans safe, the goddess joined forces with the land dwellers and fought the evil forces, sealing them away. At last, peace was restored to the surface, but not without sacrifice. The Goddess revoked her divinity to seal the evil and left behind instruction for a Chosen Hero, who would awaken millennia later, when the leader of the great evil, the Demon King, would arise again. Awakened by a loyal servant, the Demon King ravished the land, and so the Chosen Hero forged the Blade of Evil’s Bane, the Sword that Seals the Darkness: The Master Sword.

The three guardian dragons, Faron, the guardian spirit of lightning, Eldin the guardian spirit of fire, and Lanayru, the guardian spirit of ice, gave their hold breath to build its forge, and, with his own holy, courageous light, the Chosen Hero shaped the metal. Together, with the elementals and his own power, the Master Sword was created, and the Demon King was eradicated.”

Link stared at the page. Faron, of lightning. Eldin, of fire. Lanayru, of ice.

Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra. Could they be…? Could it be so simple? To utilize the dragons he knew so well and ask for their breath and blessing, and then use his own power to rebuild the sword? It was far from easy, but it was possible, enormously so. Link felt his heart leap in his chest.

He could do this. He could do this! He could fix his sword, he could save Fi, and he could make her stronger than ever, and then destroy the mummy. Between the rebuilt Master Sword and Zelda’s holy power, it wouldn’t stand a chance. They would be ready this time, and they would destroy it.

… Once he got home.

The excitement instantly left Link’s heart. He still had no way to send the Master Sword home. He had no way to return to Zelda. He was stuck. It didn’t matter if he resurrected Fi, until he could return to his time, it was pointless.

Ganondorf placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

“I know how to fix the sword.”

“That’s fantastic!”

“But I still have no way to get home.”

Ganondorf frowned. “One of the royals said your stone has access to time as well as light, didn’t they? Maybe instead of focusing on the light power, you focus on the time? There has to be a way home; I refuse to believe that your Goddesses would leave you stranded here.”

“You think the Goddesses did this?”

Ganondorf shrugged. “Someone certainly did, someone powerful, and I doubt they would do so without cause.”

“But why bring me here? These dragons… I have them in my home time. I’d be able to reforge the Master Sword there!”

“Perhaps you need a safe place to reforge the sword, a place without your mummy breathing down your neck.”

Link pursed his lips, letting out a frustrated sigh through his nose. “Perhaps.”

He opened the book again, sinking down onto the floor, and began to read in earnest. He looked for any information on dragons—nothing, nope, nada.

“I want a book on dragons,” He signed to Ganondorf, who nodded.

“Try this one—”

“Index doesn’t say anything about anything.”

“This one?”

“Wyrms, but not dragons.”

“Perhaps this one—”

“I don’t even know what language that one is in.”

They went on that way, and the quiet flittering of pages and Ganondorf’s gruff suggestions settled the stress off of Link’s shoulders. So, he didn’t have all the answers now. That was okay. He would get them, eventually. Now all there was to worry about was Sonia.

Almost as soon as the thought came, a knock came on the door, and Luga popped her head in.

“Sir Link? Queen Sonia would like to see you, now.”

Link shot up, the book falling from his lap, before turning over his shoulder to look at Ganondorf.

“Can he come?” He signed hesitantly, and Luga swallowed unsurely.

“Maybe?” She squeaked.

“Go,” Ganondorf said with a simple smile. “I’ll just add stress to the situation. Tell Her Majesty congratulations.”

Link took Luga’s extended hand, butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Was Sonia okay? This meant she was okay, right? That the baby was born? They wouldn’t call him in if something terrible happened, would they?

The medical ward was packed, this time with more than just healers and doctors, but also servants and soldiers and more, Naboris standing by the main doors with a look of pure relief on her face.

“She’s beautiful,” She whispered to Link with a grin as Link entered.

There, across the room, in a wide bed, huddled in her husband’s arms, ashen as death and covered in sweat but grinning, was Sonia.

“Link,” she rasped, adjusting the bundle in her arms. At her bedside, Mineru brushed a strand of hair from Sonia’s face. “I want you to meet her.”

Link crept closer. It—she—was so small, smaller than anything Link had seen before. There, in Sonia’s arms, skin dark, with patches of still wet fur across her chubby cheeks, a strange almost snout, a closed third eye, and a whisp of golden-white hair on her head, was the strangest looking baby Link had ever seen.

“Meet Zelda,” Sonia breathed. The baby let out a strange, sweet sound, and Link melted.

Naboris was right. She was beautiful.

#spider/fly #totk au #totk fanfic #loz au #loz fanfic #my writing

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hooves-of-hyrule · 8 months

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Hey, Zelda - I'm Finally Home

“Hey, Zelda” is a documentation of my personal Tears of the Kingdom playthrough, told through the eyes of Link in a series of monologues.

In the brief intermission between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Link and Zelda spent a lot of time together - and by that I mean, they lived together. They shared a house, shared meals, even shared a bed (though if you asked them, they would’ve told you it was for comfort and safety, and yes, they’d really believe what they were saying). Link, however, also shared stories. Old habits die hard, and after Zelda disappears, he talks as if she's there listening to him just to keep some semblance of normalcy in his life.

Note that these are incredibly self-indulgent and I fully expect no one but myself to actually care about any of these lmao.

~~~~~~~~ Hey, Zelda. …Hylia this is crazy. I know you’re not actually here and I’m just talking to a picture on the wall but… it’s habit now, I guess. …Not talking to myself, I mean it’s habit to talk to you every night. But now you’re not here. So… a picture will have to do. Anyways… how are you doing? …I hope you’re doing well. I’m ok. Well, my right arm isn’t ok. Or, it is, sort of. …what am I even saying… That arm that was holding the “Demon King” down, that’s my arm now. Supposedly it belonged to a Zonai named Rauru. You probably know more about who he might be than I do. Heh. You’d probably be obsessing over studying this arm if you were here right now - it’s given me some pretty wild powers… like the ability to swim through ceilings? I’m not totally sure how that works but I bet you could figure it out. Anyway… he transported me up to the sky for some reason. There are entire islands up there - did you know that? I didn’t know that. It was nice, I guess, but I just kept thinking about how much I wished you were there to see it. There’s also a dragon up there that I’d never seen before - probably the most beautiful and magnificent dragon I’d ever seen. Also the smallest dragon I’ve ever seen, so maybe it’s just… younger than the others? Anyways, I can’t explain how I felt every time I saw it… somewhere between breathtaking awe and a deep, bitter sorrow. I’m not sure why seeing it hurt so much, but it’s probably because I just wished I could be hearing whatever you would have to say about it.

Long story sort of short, I made my way back to land and headed toward Lookout Landing. Everyone is worried sick about you, by the way. Which reminds me… before Purah gave me my paraglider back, I went to go see Captain Hoz at the castle. We saw what we could’ve sworn was you there, but that couldn’t have been you, because if it was you, you would’ve at least stuck around to tell us that you were ok… right? …I hope you would. I’m sure you would. …OH! Speaking of getting something back, all of my clothes are gone! All of them! Can you believe that!? I mean, where would they have even gone?! Who would’ve taken them?! So now I’m wearing this… uh… I’m not totally sure what it is. I found it on the sky island. Ancient… wrap, sort of situation? Almost dress-like but not quite a dress. I found some sandals and a skirt to go with it, which are actually pretty nice, but I’m pretty fond of the warm pants and snow boots I found up there as well.

And, speaking of “well,” don’t be mad but I may or may not have gone down into your well. I know you told me not to without permission, but I had to see if maybe you were down there! I promise I didn’t read your journal, but I did take my hairband back. I forgot I had left it down there…

Obviously I went to the stable as soon as I got the chance to make sure all my horses were ok. It’s funny, really, how forgettable I must be, even though I frequent the stables more than any Hylian probably ever has. They had no idea who I was, and they forced me to catch some random horse and register it before they even bothered to look and see that I’m already registered and already have horses boarded. Not that I… actually argued that I shouldn’t have to do it and that if they just looked they’d see I’m already on the list. … I’m sure you would’ve said something for me. This is why I need you around - people actually listen to you. …Probably because you actually talk to them. … I guess I’ll have to really work on that now.

It feels weird… not having you here to interrupt me at every other sentence. I actually liked when you interrupted me. I miss having conversations with you. Telling stories and getting on tangents… it was my favorite part of every day. But this will do, for now. … Please come back soon. Everything is so quiet without you. I don’t think I like the quiet very much anymore.

~~~~~~

Author's Note: I totally didn't just stand there and stare at the picture for a little while when I got to the house. Definitely not. Couldn't possibly be me. (yes. i did.)

#legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #zelink #fanfic #hey zelda

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powdermelonkeg · 3 years

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So, BO2W Breakdown

Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.

Here we’ve got Ganon’s...energy taking over Link’s arm. Ordinarily, I’d call it Malice, but based on what it turns into, I’m just going to be calling it corruption. We don’t get much information from this scene besides this expression:

Link’s grabbing the corruption with his other hand, and wincing. It looks painful. I personally think it’s for cinematic effect that it was included, but it COULD be a gateway into a Phantom Hourglass sort of mechanic--Link has to function on a time limit, or using the corruption’s power could drain his life.

Next we’ve got a closeup of Ganondorf. F in chat to the rehydration theorists.

And the closeups of his jewelry. The only significant thing I can see is his necklace, which looks like a cross between the Gerudo symbol and a Fleur de Lis:

But what I’M most interested in is this tie on his belt:

For one, it’s WAY bigger than it needs to be, and that’s deliberate. Ganondorf’s got a jewelry aesthetic he’s already hit above; everything else is gold, why not this bit?

Most importantly, you can barely make it out, but the designs either look Sheikah or Zonai--they’ve got that same kind of swirly busy pattern to them. The red tint and tan-ish lines in it makes me think it’s possessed Sheikah tech.

Next, we’re shown Zelda falling. This looks like it happens right after these two caps from the first trailer:

So we reach for her as the ground collapses, and evidently, we fail to pull her back up. So my next question for that scene is going to be what the in-game reason is for us not diving in right after her. Maybe we won’t get one, since the appeal of the original BOTW was that you could fight Ganon whenever you wanted.

Up next, we’ve got a skydiving shot:

The first thing to notice is that Link’s pose while skydiving is just about identical to his pose in Skyward Sword:

Second is that, yes, he’s falling towards a floating island, and that in itself is noteworthy, but he’s FALLING. There’s something either above him that he jumped off of, or a force that carried him high enough TO fall, and I doubt Nintendo’s encouraging magnesis flying.

So, there’s a few options: Loftwings making a return (which is unlikely, but a hope I have), something like Revali’s Gale boosting Link up for a cinematic shot, indicating that the corruption arm has that kind of power, or islands higher than the one shown here.

Now the island itself:

In Skyward Sword, Skyloft looks like this:

And (spoiler alert) we loose this island here over the course of the game:

Now, it’s not a PERFECT 1:1 match, as most things between games aren’t, but a quick rotate and overlay shows it’s got the same kinds of shapes between the two. The same “W” shape along the eastern side, the same tiny island off the northeast point, the same relative edges.

Now, I don’t know what happened to the plaza at South Skyloft, or the Knight’s Academy isle, but it could very easily be drift away from the central island.

The presence of other islands through the clouds seems to support that theory. Now let’s look at Link here:

The outfit is new. We haven’t, to my knowledge, seen one of this design in other games. My gut reaction to this image was “oh, we go back in time and we’re the first hero now!” because it’s vaguely reminiscent of Tapestry Hero.

But upon closer inspection, that theory’s null and void. Under Link’s tunic in the image above, you can see that he’s still wearing the shorts he woke up in in the first game. So either Sheikah boxers haven’t changed in 10,000 years, or it’s taking place in present day. Jokes aside, I’m curious to know if the outfit he’s wearing is modeled after Tapestry Hero.

Next thing to point out is the obvious:

Link’s arm here looks less prosthetic and more...withered, I almost want to say. The corruption here’s made his hand look frailer, and armored them up with Zonai patterns before it fades out at his shoulder. Based on how the tattoos look, I think they’re an artifact of the corruption taking hold.

Also, the belt here:

Aesthetic purposes, or specific function? The presence of the second, smaller one on the side reminds me of Skyward Sword’s adventure pouch, which could be how the new game handles inventory size:

Next we’ve got another flying shot:

It seems like he’s flying towards Ruined Skyloft, and you can see the bottoms of islands above it, possibly meaning that the sky serves as more than just a hub world like it did in Skyward.

Now let’s look at the paraglider he’s using. It’s new.

This is how the paraglider looks in the original BOTW. It looks like we still have the Rito symbol in the center, but other than that, there’s a LOT of changes here.

First off is the color. We’re now blue and gold. The shade of blue makes me think of the Kochi Dye Shop’s navy blue:

So, possibly a dyeable paraglider?

The new pattern surrounding the Rito symbol makes me think that it’s combining the paraglider with Skyward Sword’s sailcloth:

Other than that, there isn’t much else to say about the paraglider besides the handles looking like they’re made of bone. Craftable paragliders? God, I hope not.

Back to Link:

Here we have him in different gear than the last shot. He’s wearing the snow boots, he has a shield with a stylized Eye of Truth looking upwards, and he looks like he’s carrying a traveler’s sword and an unknown bow. The presence of the bow makes me think that the shield here is a lower tier item, rather than this game’s Hylian Shield equivalent.

Now, let’s get a better look at the horizon:

The trees here look a lot like the smaller trees you can find in Akkala, but there’s a distinct lack of red among them.

Then it looks like we’ve got some ruins at the furthest isle.

Whatever the rock formations are over there, they don’t LOOK natural.

Another thing I noticed is the bottoms of the islands.

These look a little too geometric to be natural, too. Now, this one, I’m a little muddy on, because it COULD be a stylistic choice. But it also reminds me of the Shrines if you clip out of bounds:

And a little bit of the dormant Gate of Time from Skyward:

My money’s on the cube-like nature of the islands’ undersides being deliberate, rather than just a far-off render.

And then there’s this thing!

What is it? It doesn’t look broken at all; look how nicely the roof(?) is kept. The ribbing on the sides makes me think it might be a Zonai thing, but the shape makes it difficult to figure out. A giant temple? An airship? A sloped coliseum? This thing haunts and vexes me.

Our next shot is presumably from one of the islands, based on the color. Here we can see that there are definitely ruins all over the place. Link is in the same gear as before, so I won’t touch on him.

This, however, has my interest. The design here has more geometric patterns--Zonai ruins?

We’ve got another one off in the distance here. Sky checkpoints, like Sheikah towers?

Now this guy here. There’s a LOT to look at. First off is the eye design, it’s the same sort of upward looking one that Link has on his shield in the previous shots.

The energy that’s pulling this thing towards its base looks like the same green energy that surrounds the arm holding Gan in place in Trailer One:

This stuff. That, plus the fact that the robot has to be pulled into its base rather than just existing, implies that either A: Link activates it himself, like a trial thing, or B: that the green energy here functions in the same way Malice does in the original BOTW.

This pattern at its base is intriguing, too. I don’t recognize the gold symbol in the center, but the green around it reminds me of the portals from Twilight Princess.

Which, yes, everyone’s already said that the Twilight Princess patterns look like Zonai things. But another thing this weird dial thing reminds me of is from Lanayru Desert:

On top of that, the color palette of this guy looks like that of the Lanayru Robots from Skyward:

BO2W robot on the left, Lanayru robot on the right. Given that Skyward is a lot more vibrant than other non-Toon Zelda games, I think this is a fair enough comparison to draw similarities from.

And then we get a closer view of the sky ruins from the last shot. I don’t know if the geometric pattern in the corner is a deliberate carving, or wear from time, but since the pattern looks ALMOST mirrored around the corner, I’m going to go with the former.

A better shot a few frames later. The robot has HANDS, which I do not like in any way shape or form. However, we get a better look at the sky ruins.

We haven’t seen this style of stairs before, to my knowledge. The pedestal out front looks like a light source, and it has the same floral egg thing the robot above has on each shoulder; the eggs could easily be a power source for Zonai tech. And at the top of the stairs, we see a pedestal, backing up the theory that these ruins function as our new Sheikah towers.

This is our next shot. Which...

Unikoblins. Can we talk about that? UNIKOBLINS.

Anyways, Link is here again in his old clothes. This is a very early game shot, because his right arm isn’t corrupted yet; this means we get to explore Hyrule before we embark on the main quest. Which gives rise to a question: Where’s Zelda?

The hopeful side of me wants to say that she’s a tutorial companion, like Navi or Tatl, at least for the beginning here. The pessimistic side of me thinks that she’s waiting for us at a predetermined location, and this is just part of getting to her.

Now the unikoblin structure itself is built on a Talus, meaning that the dev team at least intends to have more inter-monster interactions. But if you kill the Talus, does that mean that the base falls apart, or does it just drop down as a separate entity?

Also, what are these background ruins? The one on the left looks like it’s a distinctly different style than the one on the right. It looks almost like a giant guardian arm.

Our next shot is Link’s arm getting corrupted. Which, first of all, the effects look beautiful.

Now, we can see a corner of Link’s hip here, and we know that this is his right arm. So Link’s lying down here. Unconscious? Knowing how Zelda games like to start with Link waking up, probably. Although it looks like at least part of his shorts got an update.

We can see what looks like circuits here. It looks a bit like the electricity puzzles you can find in the Divine Beasts and Shrines in the original.

Then we’ve got these strange symbols.

Whatever this circular stone he’s lying on is, it looks a lot like the Zonai puzzle from the “A Fragmented Monument” sidequest.

This one that everyone thought was the Mirror of Twilight for years.

Our next shot is Link using the corruption powers against enemies:

The spike ball itself looks solid; the question is, is this a duplication power, or a visualization of how the spike ball is set into motion?

We see it barreling over a poor Unikoblin or two, but I’d like to turn your attention to the Moblin and the background.

The moblins here have helmets, and the bases, while they carry the same design, look like they have more cause and effect in mind. The left base’s rock, for instance; that’s a lot bigger than the rocks we got to play with in the last game, and it looks like we can barrel anything in the screen over with it.

The helmet, though, concerns me a little bit. It looks natural rather than forged; like it’s the moblin’s horn, just very much deformed. Does it mean a harder enemy, or is it just for flavor?

Our next shot is this strange flower thing. Note that Link’s right arm is perfectly fine in this shot, meaning that it’s still early game.

This is what Link’s flamethrower looks like. And this:

Is Zonai art.

So the question is, what IS the flamethrower? My first thought was that it’s either a new item in its own, or it’s a Sheikah Slate upgrade. The latter might sound a little far fetched, but Link in this game is right-handed, and in BOTW, he always held the slate in his LEFT hand when using it.

We have more of the weird faded designs that we saw on the Sky ruins:

And we’ve got some kind of pedestal or stage behind the ground flower thing:

It looks like it’s either an altar or a grave, from what I can tell. The stairs aren’t the same design as the ones in the sky, and there aren’t any patterns on it.

More importantly, though, is that this place is underground. This could be a part of the game you’re required to go through, in order to get to Raisin Gan.

A few seconds later, though, we get our answer to what the flamethrower is!

It’s a shield!

Off to the left side, we can see pillars with more weird scribblings towards the top. These match the Sky ruins’ pillar shape, with a narrow base and a wider top.

Our next scene is...weird.

We see a puddle splash in reverse. It’s hard to tell if it’s actually water or not, but the design on the ground implies that it’s either been there for a long time, or that that’s a dedicated splash spot. And the quality and zoom makes me think that this is part of a cutscene. Return of the timeshift stones?

We then see Link...surfacing out of the island? I don’t know how else to describe it. However, his arm is changed again, and glowing, meaning that this is a corruption power. And the “water” he rises out of here looks a lot like the puddle in the last clip.

We get a good look at the Zonai Lights:

A Sky ruin that looks like it contains a room:

And a glimpse of other isles’ ruins in the far distance.

And then as the camera zooms out...

We can place a location!

We’re right over Thundra Plateau!

We also get a mildly better look at the back wall of the sky ruin, which looks to be some kind of table:

The next scene is Hyrule Castle:

The ground shakes and it starts to rise up. However, notice that the columns surrounding the castle are now missing.

We’ve also got red sparks in the air, like we would have in a blood moon. However, due to the sky color, we can assume that this is a conscious decision by Gan himself, and that he isn’t drawing power from his surroundings.

We then see that power bleeding out of the ground. It’s MUCH more red than Malice is, which has always been a kind of burnt pink-ish color.

However, even though Ganon lifts the castle up, he doesn’t lift it very high.

The castle’s about triple the height it was. But since we’re talking Skyloft levels of floating islands, this is still pretty ground-level. What’s interesting to me, though, is that in this shot, despite the game now being about sky islands that we should be able to see from ground level...there aren’t any here. This, to me, means that there’s going to be a sudden appearance of the isles in the sky, rather than them simply being accessible now.

And that’s the whole trailer! I have many questions.

My blog! If you have any opnions/questions/theories, feel free to drop an ask!

Part 2 is up! We missed a lot!

#botw #botw2 #bo2w #the breath just got wilder #breakdown #analysis #e3 #trailer #theory #zelda #loz #nintendo

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doodlingadventures · 3 years

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BOTW2 Theory time!

I may have had a moment of galaxy brain (hours before the nintendo direct and I don’t remember typing it xD) over on twitter and I want to elaborate on the theory I have now that we could see the teaser!

Ok so, after seeing the trailer, I still don’t think it’s gonna be the whole time on the past, but I still think we’re gonna be mind-traveling back in time in some sections, using the memories sistem from the first game. Only, instead of experiencing it as a cinematic, you play through it as the “original character”. If you’ve ever played memories sections on a video game, or the first games of the Assassin’s Creed saga, you know how that goes: you’ve got a clear objective and a few things you cannot do because the character didn’t do them. Obviously Breath of the Wild stands out for the freedom it gives you in completing most tasks, so I think the limitations on this case would just be “don’t die” or “don’t fall from the sky” xDD

I think this because the trailer very pointedly differentiates the Link from the skies from the Link on the ground (or No-Ponytail link and normal Link) using the green garb and the champions garb.

If you check the trailer, you’ll notice that Sky Link always wears green and ground Link wears blue, even if skies Link’s boots sometimes change, both maintaining the “cursed arm” (have you noticed how we never see their face after the cave scene is over?). Maybe it’s because to do the sky stuff you need that special garb, but if you look at the tapestry from the original game

You’ll see that the ancient hero wears blue, white AND green (also the glowy yellow hand). This is why I think present Link is seeing the memories of the ancient hero trought the sky trials (to give them a name). In this case he is not proving himself, like he was during the Sheikah shrines, he is gaining the knowledge/power neccessary to seal Ganon once more. Obviously we’re playing through it, but by videogame logic, that’s how it was originally done because it’s the original character doing it, so we’re learning of it. Maybe we’ll even unlock cinematic memories as the trial is completed or in another way, seeing as that’s how the original also told us part of its story.

I also think green cloth Link is the ancient hero because of how Ganondorf looks.

No, not the dried bacon skin! xD I mean their clothes! They’re both that one shoulder free plus skirt style

You can see sky Link’s brown cloth under the green part. It’s more or less the same style of garb, with the difference of Ganon’s being longer, and more decorated with gold and stuff (which makes sense if Ganon the Gerudo King in this game too, nothing shows your status like jewels).

This detail would technically make sense if they’re from the same era, and, especially, if they’re from the same society/group of people.... < <

Which takes me to my next part of my theory! And pure speculation territory xD

Ok, the green glow, the cursed arm, the ghost arm. What the hell is this (aside from the obvious substitute of the Sheikah slate) and why is it there?

There are small glimpses of it during the trailer, that the sky constructs seem to work with the same energy of the arm/seal of Ganon

(which, again, sheikah slate 2.0) but, why did it exist, why is just an arm what seals Ganon, and why does the depiction of the ancient hero show him with a glowy yellow hand? Is it their actual arm but with runes, or is it like a prosthetic?

Ok, so, my theory is that it is actually a sort of magic prosthetic. What if the ancient hero lost his arm for a specific reason, and the people that used this green magic (The Zonai maybe) not only gave him a new arm so that he could have two arms again, but for the explicit purpose of stopping and sealing Ganon. Something that seems it’s what’s going to happen to present time Link, the malice takes away his arm, and he gets it replaced by the seal arm.

Maybe, like with present Link, the reason Ancient hero lost his arm too was because of Ganon, but just not in a lost battle or something.

We’ve already seen on the first BOTW that each race and group of people, while living on the same period, they wear different and characteristic styles of clothing. Think the difference between the Hylians and Sheikah, the first wear a more medieval-european style of clothing (mostly) and the second it’s lightly inspired by traditional japanese (and the ninja theme). And when you look at the Gerudo, the Rito or the Zora (what little clothing they wear xD), again, it’s completely different from one another. So it’s not too wild to assume that maybe if Ancient hero and mummy Ganon have a similar clothing style, they were part of a same group. Which is curious because we know this Ganon is Gerudo, he wears gerudo symbols on jewels and clothing, and ancient hero was almost certainly Hylian, given what we know of him.

This could be because just like in Ocarina of Time Ganon feigns loyalty to the royal family of Hyrule to later seize power. OR, maybe it’s because (bear with me, I’m just having fun here xDD) ancient hero was part of Ganon’s army?

On the first trailer we could see a mural that shows someone marching on a horse, with long hair and the gerudo symbol on his back, followed by what looks like soldiers.

So it’s probably Ganon with his army traveling or conquering or other stuff. And maybe, Ancient hero was part of that army. What if, just like in the present Ganon’s malice takes away Link’s arm, Ganon took away Ancient hero’s arm?

Why tho? Well, maybe in his endless thirst for power, Ganon did something that collided with ancient hero’s morals, and he stood up to him?

(Sorry I’m using this one, but I don’t know how to better portray this idea. Also it’s much more juicy and dramatic if Link and Ganon were once friends xDD Just swap bravery for courage. Yes JKRO sucks for what she has said and done)

What if, at that moment, the triforce of courage showed on ancient hero’s hand (it has shown both in his right and left hand in diffferent games, so why not the right hand in this occassion), and Ganon, recognizing the threat, chopped off the ofending arm and left him for dead, prompting all the events that would lead to the sealing of the calamity?

Just a thought xDD

What do you think? Too far fetched? Maybe a bit of possibility? Will Zelda be allowed to DO STUFF INSTEAD OF HAVING TO EB RESCUED AGAIN??? Let’s see what Nintendo gives us, I can’t wait for 2022 to arrive!

#Legend of zelda #botw #breath of the wild #botw2 #breath of the wild 2 #nintendo #spoilers #theory #botw2 spoilers #just in case #ganon #ganondorf #ancient hero #link

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an-unseemly-gentleman · 3 years

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So, while chilling I, naturally, started thinking about breath of the wild and a thought occurred to me... ‘Why have I never seen anyone talk about how the depiction of the hero in the cut seen that plays during Kass’ recount of the battle 10,000 years ago has red hair?’.

[ID: screen shot from the cut seen, zoomed in on the hero. The stylised illustration depicts a person dresses in blue and red, holding the master sword and has flowing red hair. End ID]

Now, this could just be stylisation, but Link has always been some kind of blond.

[ID: A page from the Hyrule Historia showing the dates and various designs of Link through the different games. In each he is wearing some variation of his green tunic, shield and sword, and he is blond, or has very light brown hair in each. End ID]

Furthermore, the illustration that depicts the princess has blond hair.

[ID: screen shot from the same cut seen, zoomed in on the princess. The stylised illustration depicts Zelda wearing a white dress with flowing blond hair. Her arms are outstretched shooting out gold light. The complete triforce is to the right of her. End ID]

So, why is there this sudden deviation from Links design in this cut scene? This isn't something that Link or Kass is looking at, I don't think it appears anywhere in the actual game itself. Only the audience is shown this.

But... do you know who does have red flowing hair just like the illustration of the hero?

[ID: A screenshot from the Breath of the Wild 2 trailer. Zoomed in to focus on the emaciated corpse of who is suspected to be an incarnation of Ganon. He has very long, matted red hair that has faded in colour and is wearing a red or orange robe around his waist, gold arm bands and a headpiece with a glowing yellow jewel in the forehead part. His body is arched backwards, and his face contorted in pain as a blue disembodied hand adorned in geometric gold jewellery grasps the centre of his chest, the red-black energy of calamity pours out from under the hand. The grey-green tone of the scene washes out the true colours. End ID]

Yeah, dehydrated Ganon. So basically, what I’m saying is is that maybe the hero depicted in the cut scene isn't a reincarnation of Link, but rather Ganon, or, at least a Gerudo king. In addition to this, the illustration of the hero depicts him with green eyes,

[ID: screenshot of the hero in the cut seen zoomed in on his eye. End ID]

And who else has eyes that colour?

[ID: Left Image is a zoomed in cropped screen shot of Riju, she is resting her head on her right fist and is looking out towards the viewer. She has green eyes, red hair, blue lipstick and is wearing ornate gold jewellery and head piece. Right image is a zoomed in cropped screenshot of Urbosa facing the left of the image, she also has red hair, green eyes and blue lipstick. End ID]

So, not only does the depiction of the Hero have red hair but he has the green eyes of the Gerudo chieftains. Green eyes too is something that Link has never had, as he usually has blue, brown or black eyes depending on the style and design of the game/official artwork. Furthermore, this also contrasts to the black used for Zelda’s eye in the illustration,

[ID: Image 1: zoomed in and cropped image of Zelda’s eye in the cut seen. Image 2: the same image of the Hero’s eye from before. End ID]

The difference is subtle, but obvious side by side. Depicting his eye as green was undeniably purposeful. The evidence that this is a Gerudo man and not a Hylian man is building up...

From the time line, we know that Link isn’t always successful, or even exists at the same time as something catastrophic happening in Hyrule, so perhaps 10,000 years ago the reincarnation of Link failed to manifest, but a reincarnation of Ganon did. And, with Demise being a separate entity in the form of the Calamity, it didn’t poses him and so was spared from the curse that binds Gerudo kings to evil. Therefore, he would have every opportunity to be a hero, and take the place that Link failed to fill. Or, alternatively, the reincarnation of Link and Ganon became one.

We know that Gerudo women have to find men from other places to have children with, so a Gerudo chief and a Hylian man having a child together is most certainly a common occurrence seeing how close the two peoples are to one another both geographically and socially. So, perhaps 10,000 years ago a male child was born to the Gerudo chief and her Hylian partner, and this child was the reincarnation of both Link and Ganon as per the parameters of Malice’s curse.

In the Hyrule Historia, it is stated that Demise’s flaming red hair is a call back to his eventual connection to Ganon as his ‘”incarnation of hatred”, and the reincarnations of Link and Zelda are a result of blood relation to the first hero and princess that defeated him.

So, going forward, lets assume that the hero depicted is a reincarnation of both Link and Ganon simultaneously. Ultimate good and ultimate hate fused into one person that is capable of both the greatest good and evil. Furthermore, someone who posses both the triforce of courage and power. Since we don't know where BOTW falls in the time line, it can be assumed from the presence of the Arbiter’s Ground’s from Twilight Princess in the desert of BOTW that BOTW follows the timeline where the triforce is not re-fused as it is in Wind Waker. However, looking back to the image of Zelda in the cut seen, a complete triforce is before her at her feet.

With two of the triforce pieces being possessed by someone with courage and power that choose to be good, it would make sense for the princess then to have the opportunity to reform the triforce and use all its power to repel and seal the calamity.

Okay, so that’s all very well and good but... how does that make dehydrated Ganon the hero from 10,000 years ago? Well, perhaps there was still malice inside the hero, perhaps the Zonai wanted to make sure that Demise, malice and Ganon stayed gone... And this is where I would like to turn this theory over to everyone else.

Please feel free to rip this apart or add your own ideas onto this theory. I honestly don’t know if anyone else has this theory because I really haven't seen it talked about before on like the Zelda theory channels I watch on youtube or anywhere else online.

#botw #breath of the wild #botw theory #legend of zelda #long post #image description

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botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years

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Idk if you do ship ask but I've always hc that most ritos are affraid of thunder, since that could very easily harm/kill something flying (like a rito), so do you have any headcanons about link comforting revali during a thunderstorm?

Heya! Thanks for sending this ask, I had so much fun writing it! If you wanna know why it took so long, it’s because I accidentally keep making these essentially oneshots instead of headcanons...I get too wrapped up in the atmosphere lmao.

Anyhow, please enjoy, and thanks for your patience! :P

Revalink during a thunderstorm:

2553 words

Revali always thought green was a decent color, it paired well with his evening blue feathers and eyes after all

But this trip was really challenging his beliefs…

“Tree. Tree. Large tree. Giant tree. Leaf. Bush. Greenery. Tree. Giant leaf. A verdant green. Emerald green. Fern green…” He listed off his observations rhythmically

Revali suddenly stopped walking, patting Link on the back.

“Why Link, you won’t believe this, but if you look up now, you can experience this rare sight of a tree. Impressive isn’t it?”

Link turned his head to see Revali gesture grandly at the Faron scenery, before rolling his eyes. ‘You’re such an ass…’

The Rito smirked, content with the annoyance he was causing Link, before continuing to walk beside him, pointing out the “variety” of nature.

He had been traveling with Link across the jungles of Faron, helping him fly over the waterfalls and rivers for...reasons he had forgotten. Something ordered by the Princess? Checking Shrines? Updating ruin locations? Something, something, Zonai, Sheikah, database...and other nonsense words that Revali didn’t really care for, point was, “this expedition would run all the more smoothly with your skill set,” so, here he was.

In hindsight that was probably only said to flatter him into coming, but it’s not like Revali was going to complain. One on one time with Link wasn’t an opportunity he would have passed up on, anyway

Walking under the lush forest canopy, Revali picked at the 700th vine tangled in Link’s hair. “This exploration stuff sure is paying off...I’m experiencing so many new things. Like plants, and water, and bugs. Never could have experienced this anywhere else.”

Link raised an eyebrow, holding up his hands to sign, ‘Come on now, don’t be like that. We’ll be done with this soon, so quit being pretentious for two seconds and enjoy the beauty of nature!’

Right, because the beauty of the sweltering, sickly green, claustrophobic jungle crawling with insects and slimy creatures, dwelling in a sticky, sappy, foliage that seemed to tie your wings down to the earth with it’s grasping vines and prickly leaves… THAT was just the thing for a Rito from Tabantha to enjoy

Revali clicked his tongue. “You think I’m the pretentious one? That one leaf is the size of a Hinox’s arse. What’s even the point of that?? Do the lizards hate the sky that much?” He gestured towards the thick canopy above once again

Link’s expression suddenly changed as he peered through the leaves, noting how the sky’s sunset colors had started to darken with greying clouds. He spoke bluntly

‘There’s a storm coming.’

“Oh? Wonderful…”

‘I think there’s a cave we can use for shelter near the northernmost waterfall.’

“Think? My ability of flight, and overall state of being, is not suited for moisture, so I’d really prefer if you were a bit more certain than, ‘think!’”

‘Well we can always sleep out here if you want… We’ll have to stay overnight judging by the size of those storm clouds.’

Revali shuddered as another sapphire blue lizard crawled across the forest floor near his talons, much too close for comfort. The image of laying down in the dirt, being mocked by the infectious green that covered the sky, for over eight hours, he audibly groaned.

Fine, hypothetical cave it is.

“Get on my back already. The sooner the day is done, the better, I suppose.”

Flying through the air, Revali feathers rustled in the growing wind, he could start to smell the storm in the air. Thankfully, Link’s cave turned out to be real, providing dry shelter from the oncoming, feather-drenching rain, thank Hylia. If he had to do his braids and ribbons again after he spent all morning just—

BOOM!

Not two seconds after Revali had landed them both in the cave, a deafening sound shook the ground and carried Revali’s soul to hell, heaven, and back. The sound that escaped his beak was none short of a shrill squeak you might hear come out of a thousand baby birds.

Behind them, green sparks fizzed against the earth, starting a small fire, before it was quickly extinguished by the now pouring rain.

Revali shuddered, shaking off the few droplets on his wing. His feathers seemed to tremble from the charge in the air, and his mind was racing with thoughts of what would have happened if he was two seconds slower in his descent, but he concealed it all with a neutral frown.

“This forest is lucky the rain started, that bright explosion of death nearly made me think we were under attack, I’d have nocked a bomb arrow or two.”

‘The...thunder and lightning, you mean?’

“Shut up I know what lightning is.”

‘I guess it makes sense you’re not that familiar...the most action you’ll see in Rito Village is cold winds and snow.’

“I said I know what lightning is.”

‘Oh, don’t worry, I heard you. I heard you very clearly a few seconds ago…’

Revali let out a few “hmphs” before sitting down on the cave floor. Link started to chuckle to himself before starting a fire, the cave was wide enough for the smoke to escape and not suffocate them, and it’s warmth was welcomed wholeheartedly by the Rito Champion.

Link thought that would be the end of it, Revali volunteered to take the first night watch, and the Hylian thought nothing of it. Before either of them knew it, Link had somehow drifted off into a peaceful sleep

BOOM!

Another crack of thunder. Sure, thunder had been roaring in air for the last two or three hours, but this time the lightning struck close enough to the cave that Link could feel the vibration against the earth.

He rose with a yawn, stretching his arms as if he had been woken by chirping birds, and not the midnight sky’s roars

Glancing towards Revali’s direction, concern started to creep onto Link’s face, as he watched the Rito with furrowed eyebrows and a frown

As far as he could tell, Revali hadn’t moved an ant’s inch from when Link had last seen him before he dozed off. His jade eyes were fixed on the jungle, and the feathers on his neck seemed to raise everything the sky glowed a shocking flash of green.

Despite having sat up from the fire, Revali didn’t seem to notice that Link had woken.

Link waved his arm in front of him, trying to catch the Rito’s gaze.

‘Hey? You ok?’

Link’s actions cut into Revali’s tumbling thoughts, but he quickly recovered from his initial shock with a click of his tongue

“I’m fine. Just watching to make sure your tired person doesn’t get ambushed by some crafty lizalfo. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Link paused, but in the end, he nodded his head in acceptance. ‘Alrighty then. Well, you go ahead and get some rest. I can take the next watch.’

“...ah. Right.”

Revali awkwardly shuffled closer to the fire, pinning his back a bit deeper into the shallow cave.

He didn’t bother to lie down

‘Are you sure you’re ok?’

“I’m fine. I’m just not tired yet is all”

‘Well you should try to get some sleep, cause tomorro—’

“Yes, I’m well aware, I don’t need the reminder of our schedule.”

‘It would probably help to not face the forest, cause the movement and noises can be distracting when you’re trying to sl—’

“Yes. I understand, thank you. As I said I’m not tired so—”

‘But Revali, I just said—’

“Look! I’m fine, stop pestering me about it, OK? All I want is to just be able to—”

BOOM!

Comically— or perhaps in this atmosphere, un-comically— a lizard fell off the side of a tree near the cave’s mouth, visibly fried and very much dead

Link, ever the survivalist, grew excited at the prospect of a free elixir ingredient, but as he turned to Revali to share this good news, he was greeted with a very still Rito, his feathers pressed stiffly against himself as he seemed to be holding down his other wing, presumably because it was shivering.

That was strange, considering Link had taken care to keep the firewood stocked. He looked at Revali again, his green eyes seemed to be swirling with racing thoughts and fears

......fears…

Hylia he was an idiot

Although in fairness, it works both ways

‘I’m sorry...I should have realized you had a greater fear of lightning given the circumstances…’

The Rito suddenly jerked his head, his voice rising in pitch by the second. “W-What?! I don’t know where you got that idea from. Circumstances?? I’ll have you know I’ve trained for years to be quite fearless.”

A sudden flash of light came from the corner of his eye, and Revali had to clamp his tongue to keep silent. If it weren’t for his feathers, he’d be as white as a dove.

‘Are you sure? I’d imagine the thought of thunderstorms are a lot worse for you Rito..’

‘You know, given all the rain, and the chance of being electrocuted, and shot out of the sky by a bolt of lightning, and the loud sounds that probably remind you of an avalanche or a bomb, and also falling out of the sk—’

Link suddenly cut himself off, realizing a bit too late that the explanation of the factors involved with thunder and lightning wouldn’t exactly help Revali’s attitude.

The Rito only stared at Link, his beak clamped shut. Finally, he let out a sigh.

“I’m fine.”

Silence, then a scoff from Link.

Yeah, right.

He started pulling out an assortment of items from his small pouch—how Link magically managed to fit cart-fulls of apples, armour, and weapons in there was beyond him. Link joked that it was because of magic tree children, at least, Revali thought he was joking

‘Ah-ha! This should make you feel better!’

Link pulled out a golden helmet, it looked Gerudo in style, and it was covered in green, red, and blue gemstones

‘This thing absorbs lightning, and disperses it, so you don’t get hurt!’

Revali raised an eyebrow, hesitant

‘No! Seriously! This thing has saved me dozens of times, it’s seen hundreds of storms, and it’s taken on countless lightning strikes directly on this part!!’

He pointed excitedly to the bright green gemstone’s at the helm’s crest.

Revali could only shift his weight in discomfort, and Link finally got the hint.

‘Ah right. Maybe the lightning prone object isn’t for you...but…’

Link pulled out a weird, flexible hat, in the shape of a fish. It’s giant eyes stared askew at the cave’s walls, and when Link put it on for demonstration purposes, it basically looked like an octorok had spat a starving fish on his hair

‘This little guy is called Lucky. He’s made out of this thing called rubber, and it’s supposed to help keep electricity from touching you. Pretty nifty fashion choice too, right?’

“I will be plucked dry and drowned before you catch me wearing that hideous thing.”

‘Lucky doesn’t appreciate your unkind words…’

A few more minutes pass by, Link unloading the items in his satchel in an attempt to ease Revali’s mind. But most suggestions failed to truly convince him. Occasionally, the storm would boom again, and Link would rub Revali’s wing gently, if only to keep his attention on the weird yellow mushrooms in his hand. Nonetheless, it was a small thing that the Rito appreciated.

After a few more rounds of talking, Revali finally sighed in defeat. “I appreciate your gesture Link, I truly do. But I’d really prefer to just, not think about lightning at all, rather than be surrounded by your cluster of trinkets and tools.”

“So again, it’s fine. I can just sit here and wait it out. Don’t torment me any further with your...endless basket of comfort foods. I do hope that you donate some of those to the needy, I can’t be seen walking around with a selfish, hoarding hero after all.”

Link ignored the quip and Revali’s attempt to deflect the conversation.

‘Are you sure there’s nothing else I can offer you?’

Revali opened his beak to say no, before closing it. He looked Link up and down, from his fuzzy golden head, to his pathetic and dirty blue tunic, to his brimming, sky blue eyes.

Revali opened and closed his beak again, before saying, “no, it’s OK.”

Link frowned, tapping his fingers to his chin.

Then, he swiftly grabbed at the blue scarf around Revali’s neck.

“W-Wha—hey!”

‘Just borrowing this for a sec!’

Despite Revali’s attempts to retrieve it, Link was already unfurling the scarf to its full length and width. Surprisingly, it was long enough, long enough for Link’s plan, anyhow

He turned back to Revali. ‘Snuggle up closer to the fire. If we’re gonna sleep towards the back of the cave like this I’d prefer to be as warm as possible

Revali’s expression was indescribable, at least verbally. Through the power of writing I can only describe the expression as something that conveyed feelings such as:

?!?!?!!?!!??!?!?!?!!!??!?!?!!?!!?

‘We’re gonna hug, you dense bastard’

Revali started to sputter out questions, and list of logical reasons as to why that suggestion was absurd. But suggestion turned to action as Link wordlessly wrapped the scarf around the two of them, before snuggling into Revali’s feathers.

On the brightside, Revali was stiff for different reasons, other than lightning.

In hindsight that was probably part of his plan

The Rito was silent, as he struggled with the decision of either allowing himself to be comfortable, nestled with his favourite soft scarf, and his favourite (he would never admit it) Champion

Or to put up his usual quips and walls

Was Link annoyed about this? Happy??

Spirits above he was so embarrassed, Link was probably doing this out of pity, like some mother tending to an infant...

Or maybe it wasn’t like that...? Was it something else?? Some other feeling that had cause him to take such a drastic action to—

‘What’cha thinking about?’

Revali felt Link’s arms move under his wing, and he looked over at the Hylian. He looked so...tranquil, and relaxed...and...stunning....despite his terribly kept hair

“Nothing.”

Link raised his eyebrow, ‘Yeah?’

Revali narrowed his eyes in confusion, but nodded, to which Link turned back and nestly his face into his soft feathers.

What kind of a question is that? What am I thinking about? This situation that came out of no where of course!!

What else would he be thinking abo—

...

The Rito could only smirk to himself finally putting together the pieces of Link’s scheme

Another moment of silence. At least, to Revali it was silent. The only sounds he could hear were of Link’s breathing, and his own heartbeat.

The thunder whispered in the background

Revali smiled, while resting his beak on Link’s soft hair

Then finally, thoughts turned to dreams turned to peace; Revali slept sound as the rain pattered to the sound of his beating heart

HA god what a loser it’s so corny I could die. Who would even right such a thing ahahaahha— oh wait

[If you enjoyed this content, a like and a reblog is greatly appreciated! Let’s me know that I should make more, while also giving me that extra serotonin.]

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #botw headcanons #fuck it i might just tag this as fanfiction #botw fanfiction #revalink #revali #link #link botw

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lorelylantana · 3 years

Text

Savageries of the Heart Chapter 5: Homecoming

First-Previous-Next

Ao3

Chapter rating: T Overall Rating: E

“How did this happen?” she asked, setting the slate down to look at her husband. He looked sheepish.

“It didn’t happen overnight,” Link explained, “After the Sheikah were banished from the Kingdom of Hyrule they came to us for protection after their own military forces were lost, and the other races opted for their own independence. That much is true, and it was for centuries after. The Sheikah don’t really have a desire for leading outside of their own people, so as long as the Zonai reinforced their borders and funded their research they were content to share the fruits of their knowledge.

“We’ve always believed in extending a hand in aid where we could, so on the occasions that the other races reached out for help, we’ve been the first to respond. We built the dam in Zora’s domain and we killed the Lynels haunting the Rito snowfields. When the Gerudo canyon collapsed we’re the ones that cleared the rubble to let them travel safely once again. Bit by bit the other races began to see the benefits of being a unified nation again, so we expanded the railways, the Sheikah streamlined communications, new Wardens were named, and we came whole again.”

“Not completely,” Zelda interjected, oddly defensive. She felt Noodle’s nose bump into her chin, perhaps in response to her racing pulse.

“Not completely,” Link agreed, “But it was a king on Hylia’s throne that fractured the continent in the first place, and the Sheikah have long memories. Even with the countless records locked away, they knew it wasn’t the first time they had been made to vacate Hyrule, so they advised us to keep the royal family in the dark and wait.”

“For what?” Zelda asked. He looked in her eyes.

“For the right Queen.”

Fat chance of that one, considering her uncle sat on the throne and she was the Hollow Daughter of Hylia.

“Tell me more about the Wardens,” Zelda said, uncomfortable at the implied expectation.

Link scooted over, taking the slate in his hand he fiddled with the map settings until Zelda watched the borders she was familiar with reappear. Noodle uncoiled from her spot on Zelda’s wrist to sniff at the screen, her snout tapping on the small region north of Mount Lanayru, if that was indeed it’s name and not another lie told to her people. A box appeared with white text.

The Wellspring

Warden: Dorephan [Contact]

Rising Warden: Mipha [Contact]

“Each region is governed by a Warden,” Link explained, his breath tickling her ear and his arm slipping around her waist, “Dorephan is the current Warden of the Wellspring, but he gave his notice of retirement last year, so Mipha, his daughter is carrying out the majority of his duties until she slays a great beast and takes over his position completely.”

Zelda tapped the harbor their icon was inching towards, highlighting the region that Zelda originally thought to be the entire Zonai nation.

Dragonlands

Warden: Link

Rising Mother: Zelda Lana Hyrule [Contact]

Zelda noticed that the word ‘contact’ was written in green. Curious, she tapped it, expecting the screen to change. Instead there was a chiming from her headdress. Zelda tensed up. Link gave a little chuckle before pinching her translator between his fingers for a moment.

“What was that?” Zelda asked, but he only held up his finger again, shooting her a wink as he got up and left the the observation deck

“Can you hear me?”

Zelda flinched, startled. Her husband’s voice had replaced the mechanical words from her translator.

“Yes,” she responded, walking to the window to see her husband walking into view below. In her ear she could hear the sea breeze until his voice returned.

“A secondary function, though a recent one,” Link said, waving up at her.

Zelda looked at the slate again.

“Why can’t I call you?” she asked, noting the option to contact didn’t appear next to her husband’s name.

“That’s my personal slate, it would be like writing a letter to myself.”

He began walking up the stairs, and she could hear his footsteps, which was a bit disorienting without a stair in sight. They spent the rest of the trip eating their lunch while Link explained the basic functions of a Sheikah Slate. Zelda pressed an icon with a small blue circle, and a glowing blue orb appeared in her hands. Link mumbled something in Zonai that the Zelda’s translator interpreted as a string of curse words that had her ears burning. Link took the orb from her hands, chucked it through a window he’d opened before pressing the ‘cancel’ button right next to the one labeled ‘detonate’.

“That was an explosive,” he said by way of explanation. Zelda’s eyes widened.

“Does everyone else on the continent have access to explosives?” she asked, alarmed. Link shook his head with a laugh.

“Farore above, no. The slates given to Wardens and have greater capabilities than most citizens’. Standard issue slates are much more limited. Identification, communications, and finances only.”

“What does it mean by ‘Rising Mother?” Zelda asked, now holding the slate at arm’s length.

“Being my wife makes you the Mother of the Dragonlands, but since you haven’t officially accepted the title you’re listed as ‘Rising’.”

“How do I accept it?” she asked, Link smiled, bright and relieved.

“I’ll show you when we get home.”

She liked that sentence because of the assumption. There was a warm undertone to the flippant reminder that she had a home here. She was in a foreign country that wasn’t at all like she imagined, but she had a place set aside for her. It was enough to banish the dissatisfaction of her question going unanswered and allowed her to walk hand in hand with her husband with a spring in her step. As they descended onto the dock, she couldn’t help but notice that it was pretty deserted, though she did see a large building at the top of a large cliff. Link led them down into the sand. They came across a strange platform on the ground before Link placed his palm on a screen covered pedestal. After fiddling with the screen Link took out a vial of simmering red liquid she recognized as an elixir and pressed it into her hand. She drank it, savoring the kick that she recognized as a spicy elixir. Link watched as she swallowed it.

“How did I do?” he asked, brow raised. She took another sip.

“It’s a tad overdone,” she admitted, “but effective,”

He nodded, satisfied with her answer. She shook out her limbs, the heat spreading to her fingers and toes like a fever.

“It’s a little warm for a spicy elixir, isn’t it?” she asked, quizzical. He winked at her, resting a palm against the blank screen. After a blue line ran up and down the pedestal chimed and the world faded away.

The world returned in slices, descending bit by bit to create a small alcove tucked in the corner of a much larger room filled with plush chairs and couches facing a strange black rectangle set upon a table. Despite the questions burning through her mind, she found herself transfixed by the opposite wall. Rather than the intricate stonework that made up the majority of the room, the wall they walked along had an almost translucent, iridescent quality to it, orange light shining through that mimicked the sunset outside. She pressed a hand to it and dragged her palm along its smooth, chilled surface, her breath coming out in clouds in front of her. Link showed her a large glass box filled with vegetation and a lamp which, in a notable departure from the standard blue light fixtures around the room, shone with a warm yellow light.

“For Noodle,” Link said by way of explanation, opening the box.

Zelda beamed from ear to ear, reaching into the terrarium to let the serpent climb onto one of the winding branches. She could have sworn she saw some of the blue scales glow, but it was probably a trick of the light.

“Say Noodle again,” she said, tucking her hand into his elbow.

“Why?”

“Because it sounds cute in your accent,” she admitted, cheeks flushing slightly.

He gave her a quizzical look but nonetheless obliged her, “Noodle.”

She giggled, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder as they walked down the hall to a larger, yet somehow more intimate room.

Zelda stepped forward and turned to examine their bedroom. The walls were carved in hundreds of illustrations of plant and animal life alike, each shape crafted with a myriad of stones that must have been gathered from all corners of Hyrule. A fox made from the rich Eldin rock, wolves shaped from the cool blue of Upland Zora, and pigeons carved from Necluda stone. The lush scenes of the wild were dominated by sprawling depictions of dragons lording over it all. She recognized the serpent she glimpsed on their wedding day coiled protectively over their bed which, while lower to the floor than her own, was far wider than any bed she’d ever scene and stacked with silks and cushions.

After the stress of the day, Zelda was ready to lie down, but her husband had other ideas, taking her hand and pulling her to the corner on her left, where another dragon curled around a bath that looked far too big for just the two of them. Nevertheless, Zelda followed him gratefully, glad that at least one of her preconceived notions of the Zonai held true.

Owlan had told her the Zonai viewed baths an intimate affair, which she had understood. The difference lay in that married couples were supposed to bathe together, and often. This practice was apparently so common that newlyweds were not considered fully united until they blessed their marital home with a bath. Thus, when Link’s hands began to unravel the cloth around her chest, she made no comment, only moving to undo his belt.

When they were both stripped down they stepped over the lip of the massive tub. Link took the lead as the welcoming spouse, turning her around so he could run his hands down her back. Despite the spicy elixir having a good deal of time before it wore off, the water felt cool. Not enough to feel uncomfortable, but impossible to ignore. If her elixir couldn’t hold off the chill, she wondered how frigid it must be. Zelda was dissuaded from asking questions by Link’s touch, warm and steady as they started to rub soap into her back. She sighed and felt her head roll to one side. Zelda let her gaze rest on the luminescent stone of the second dragon. Unlike Farosh, the horn of this creature almost resembled a crown, spikes pointing away from the creature’s face.

“I saw Farosh on our wedding day,” Zelda said idly, her shoulders easing under his touch. He hummed and started to work on her arms.

“The gods approve of our marriage.”

This intimacy in the water was softer than what they shared in their honeymoon, but no less potent. Perhaps this gentle caress was one of the unsung sides of love, often overlooked for that wildfire lust that overtook them so many times. And yet, as Zelda grew warmer under his ministrations a deep sense of peace took root, easing away the emotional strain of the day’s revelations. For all the deceit revealed to her, his growing affection for her felt genuine.

Link pulled her to rest against his chest so he could reach around to her stomach. When she relaxed and let her arms rest back in the water it became clear that the heat wasn’t just from his embrace but from the bath, once so cold it broke through her elixir’s protection.

“What happened to the water?” she asked, dragging a hand through the bathwater. It was heated as a hot spring. “Zonai leaders have always drawn strength from the land, wielding magic both consciously and instinctively.” he explained, washing and rinsing her hair, “This flow is strongest in the springs and other sacred sights, giving us enough protection to render even the harshest weather mild.”

Link turned her around to look her in the eyes as he took her leg into his lap, “We swore to each other before our people,” he explained, massaging her calf as he spoke, “we’ve proven this union to one another in our bed. But only here, alone in holy water atop a sacred mountain, do we verify our marriage before the gods. You are Mother of the Dragonlands, and now all the spirits watching over us recognize you as such, and give their power freely.”

Zelda smiled, security pulsing steady in her chest. The feeling was compounded by small, swirling clusters of energy she could now feel brushing against her skin and shielding her from the unrelenting cold of her new home. After pressing a quick kiss to his lips she urged him to turn around. Relishing in the heated water, she took the cloth from the lip of the tub and lathered it in soap so she could start to scrub his back and arms. She traced some of the paint on his bicep before wiping it off.

“What do the markings mean?” she asked. She had watched him apply the paint several times since their wedding, though never as much as he did the night itself.

“It’s less about design and more about location,” he answered, “The paint makes us stronger. We use it to stimulate the muscles we use most in battle.”

She rubbed his other arm clean before moving on to his chest. He smiled lazily, resting his hands on her hips, his thumbs circling idly.

“How’s it made?”

“I’ll send you the recipe.”

Zelda raised a brow, “Just one?”

“The only one that works.”

Now that was an intriguing prospect. Alas, it would have to wait for another day, as Zelda started to yawn when washing his legs and feet and her eyes had started to close on their own accord when they dried off on the steps leading up to the tub. She heard Link give a low chuckle as he pulled the towel from her hands and began to rub the moisture out of her hair, massaging her scalp in the process. His touch put her at so much ease that she ended up dozing off with her face resting against his thigh. Zelda only stirred when he did, sliding off the lip of the tub to take her in his arms. She didn’t open her eyes when she was rocked in his arms as he crossed the room. She felt the cool, smooth sheet covering the bed before it dipped to accommodate her husband’s weight. Zelda reached for him blindly and was rewarded by his arms wrapping behind her back, pressing their bare chests together. She felt Link’s lips on her forehead.

“Goodnight,” he whispered into her hair. She nuzzled his shoulder and kissed what felt like his collarbone.

“Goodnight.”

#zonai link #zonai zelink #zelink #botw zelink #arranged marriage au #botw link #botw zelda

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dreadfutures · 3 years

Text

botw2 trailer thoughts

I’ll add to this post and tag it as botw2 and off topic in case you don’t wanna see it, my dragon age friends lol

I want to look at the flying/Link jumping up through the bottom of that flying platform very closely.

What I’m wondering is: are these floating islands actually chunks of the Hyrule map we know that have been sent up into the sky suddenly, or are they new? (Can we see new canyons/missing pieces of the earth from the view of the map we have in those shots?)

Age of Calamity, as much as I hate every thing about the plot of that game, did reintroduce time travel. What color are time travel portals? Is it green?

There’s our classic Champion Tunic and little ponytail Link from BOTW, and then there’s a PC with longer and unkempt hair, and a Link with a slightly different ponytail.

Could be that we are doing a memory thing with the Ancient Hero

Could be that we go back in time (in which case, the Ancient Hero is actually BOTW Link in a temporal loop of some kind?)

Crossing my fingers that it’s Zelda dressing androgynously. Cry.

So from the first trailer & this one:

Link and Zelda hanging out in normal Hyrule.

Something sends them underground specifically into a Zonai/ancient ruin

Down there they find the story of Ganondorf and the ghost hand holding Ganondorf’s mummy in place

Ganondorf awakens and Malice raises Hyrule Castle into the sky.

The ghost hand catches Link and fuses with him? (or the ghost hand catches Link and then Malice goes after his arm and he loses his arm and the ghost hand replaces it?)

Zelda had the Slate, the arm functions as replacing the Slate.

My question is, if Zelda fell, why are we going up?

Re: floating places: they seem to be in a ruined state, too. So I don’t really think we’re doing time travel. (If this were an ancient floating civilization that we were going back in time to visit, shouldn’t they be much nicer looking, like the Skyward Sword civilization?)

Calling it now:

The floating civilization was a highly technologically advanced Sheikah/Hylian society (perhaps even the Skyward Sword society melded with the ancient Sheikah after they came down to the surface)

They had this green magic that powered robots and stuff

Whatever remains of this civilization is just the technology -- taking more inspo from Ghibli, it’s gonna be Castle in the Sky.

The ruins on the ground that are Zonai are maybe “fallen” pieces of it, and they will be re-floated? Or they’re from the civilization after they moved to earth.

Other observations right off the bat;

The Ganondorf mummy?

He has a Harp of the Goddess Hylia on his hip, holding his robe up.

Some of these floating maps are really big.

I like the PC falling through the air shot--very Fortnite though, which is funny.

The ancient tech in their arm goes all the way up their ribs. If this is Link, god, poor child, you’ve been reconstructed so many times. (On second thought, I think it’s body paint?!?!!!!~!!!)

That initial outfit is very tattered--the one-shouldered one with the green shawl. We’ve never seen sandals like that before either.

The paragliding characters is definitely Link (the glider is the royal family crest one and he has it in the Champion’s Tunic bits with the bokos), and even though it’s the same outfit the pants are different. But I wanna look at that shield. It’s Sheikah-esque, but it’s much more reminiscent of the floating robot guy we see later.

Speaking of the blue robot guy -- these egg shapes on its shoulders appear as a motif throughout these ruins and I suspect it will tie this civilization back to our beloved Guardian dragons.

These square-shaped altar/shrine thingies--we see Link(?) running toward one in a golden-hour lighting, with a floating island above it.

Could this be a shrine on the Surface Hyrule? If so.....where the fuck is it and where did it come from? lmao

The golden trees look like Akkala.

Why do these bokos have horns? Are they an evolution, or an ancient version? What does it mean if they’re ancient but Link is in his Champion’s tunic?

The magic in Link’s arm definitely powers up Ancient Tech in those bracers/bracelet things, and then it leaves the skin of his arm black looking underneath. Black looking like the mummified ganon????

Link uses Stasis with the new arm, but the fire effect is from his unharmed left hand. There’s something stone he uses to unleash the flames, which makes it seem like a weapon rather than an arm effect--I’m guessing it’s an ancient tech weapon.

The water droplet/flying thing looks kinda lame ngl. But reminiscent of Revali’s Gale and their ghost magic. What happened to the Champion abilities? :(

Hyrule Castle and, I think, Castle Town both seem to still be in ruins, so it can’t be that much longer after BOTW, if the timeline is still correct.

#botw #off topic

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dejilmcabrough · 3 years

Text

Akira’s POV

I heard that after the hero defeated the calamity, he went rogue. I also heard he went and left Hateno to go to the faron province to worship the Zonai? My job after awakening from my 118 years of slumber is to bring him back. WOW, I’m Zelda’s older sister, why am I having to prove I am “good enough”. They didn’t even give me new clothes.

I rode my black steed Hocus. Well the descendant of him. God it’s hot. I wipe sweat off my forehead. We crossed a bridge, I slowed him down. I hear rustling. Suddenly feeling a pain and a jolt, I feel my body hit the dirt ground. I open my eyes while gasping for breath, I see sharp blue eyes pierce through mine. My breath hitched in my throat.

Link. It’s the hero of legend. The blonde pulled me up by my hair. “Ow, ow ow, that hurts!” I cried as he grabbed the reins of my horse and he made me get up off the ground. He pushed me in front of him and told me with a raspy breath, “move.”

I start to walk and I ask, “where are we going?” Silence. He said nothing. We go through a gate to a cave. He pushed me to the ground and my hands were cut open from the rugged ground. I hiss from the pain.

His sharp voice asked where I came from. “Did you come from the Castle?” He spit. “y-yes..I’m the first daughter of the Hylian royal family..Akira..” “They don’t have another daughter, the only one is Zelda.” He snarled. God he is horrifying.

“I am the first daughter. I am 118 years old and I will not be treated this way by you.” I snarled back as I got off the ground. My grey royal dress was tattered. “I just woke up from the coma, and the first thing I had to do was come get you.” I sighed. He looked at me like I had two heads.

He glared at me with intense daggers. “I’m not here to take you back, I know just how bad the hylians are.” I patted my legs off and looked up at him. He stayed silent. “Even though I was born an abomination, I actually have full sheikah blood.” I unzipped my dress a little from the back. I showed him the thick black tattoo that was on my shoulders. It was the Sheikah eye.

He reached out and skimmed the tattoo with his finger tips. “I see..” Link straightened up and nodded. “I understand, so you won’t try to make me go back?” I nodded slightly. Then he looked guilty. “Sorry for pulling your hair and pushing you on the ground..” He looked embarrassed. “It’s okay I would have done something similar if someone tried to make me leave” I laugh.

Link then told me to follow him. Hesitantly, I follow him down into the dark cave. The blonde led me to a large room with potions, water and all sorts of survival things. He tells me to sit down while he rummages through some jars. I sit down carefully and wince at my hands.

He then sat down beside me. “Give me your hands.” He demanded and I gave him them. He opened a jar with pink cream looking stuff. “It’s an elixir, but I tweaked it to be a cream.” The boy looked intently down at my red smeared palms. He skimmed over them, remembering every cut he created.

I sucked in my breath when he applied the pink stuff. The scent of petals invaded my nostrils. The cream was chilly and so I winced. Seeing my reaction, he softly blows on the cuts. He thought it was hurting. Why did…

I blushed awkwardly. He finished applying the petal scented stuff. “...what is this stuff made of?” Sharply he said, “Fairy Tonic, I had put fairies in a cook pot and made the perfect elixir out of it.” I sweatdrop. The blonde looked up and laughed at my reaction. “It’s true though” He commented.

I watch the cuts disappear and look up with a beaming smile. “Thanks for healing me,” he smiles back. “No problem” he says shortly. Then he waited a moment before talking again. “You’re not so bad, Akira.” “You’re not as bad as I originally thought either” I laugh while I trace over my palm. He looked away. “I’m glad you’re not a snotty princess that tells me what to do when all i’m doing is protecting you” He laughs, then went silent.

“Are you okay?” I ask while putting my hand on his shoulder. “Yeah I’m fine, thanks.” He sharply replies. His sapphire eyes dart down to the ground. I feel extremely awkward. He takes his skull helmet off and sits it on the ground beside him. Then he raked his hand through his hair. His hair was so long.

I then scoot closer. “Can I braid your hair?” I ask weary. He nods and I stand up, moving behind him. I softly raked my hands through his blonde hair. I assumed his hair would be at least a little dirty, but his hair is clean and a pretty golden color. I slowly braid his long soft hair and as soon as I finish the braid, I ask for a piece of lace. He hands me a lace piece and I tie it around his hair.

He looked up at me and I smiled. “I’m done, it looks really good!” He then hands me a...Sheikah slate… “take a picture so i can see” He responds. I nod, then ask where the picture thing was. He turned and pointed at this icon. I nod.

I opened the icon and it made a noise that startled me. I zoomed onto his hair and took a clear realistic picture of his braid. “Here Link!” I give it to him, and he intently looks at the picture. “Good job Akira, it’s perfect” He looked up at me and beamed with his toothy grin.

I blush at his cute face. I then look down at myself subconsciously. I am a literal hot mess. He looks down at what I'm looking at. “What?” He asks curiously. “Sorry, i just noticed how much of a mess I am” I laugh nervously. He nods slowly. “Here” He stands up quickly. He digs through a bag and pulls out an outfit that is a little revealing.

He pulled me up and handed me the outfit. “There’s a spring farther back into the cave, you can bathe there” He smiles. “Well, Is there a soap I can use?” I inquired. He nodded and said it was already there. “I can show you there if you want” He shrugged. I say that would be perfect. He took my hand and led me to the spring. It was dim, and the water was a beautiful shade of blue. It was glowing like foxfire mushrooms.

“Thank you Link, you can go now..” I say. He lets go of my hand and walks back the other direction. “See you when you’re done, Akira” He waved. I waited until he’s completely gone and took my tattered clothes off. I walked into the spring and it was warm. The soap was on the edge of the pool.

I wash up and soak for a while. As soon as I was done, I rinsed myself and dried off. Tip toeing over the clothes, I pick them up. No wonder they looked revealing, They were also Barbarian clothes. I put them on and they were a perfect fit.

I put on the shoes and picked up my clothes that were 101 YEARS OLD. I walked out of the spring room and saw Link picking up stuff around the cave. I call and he looks up. He sets a bunch of random stuff in the corner. “It suits you very well,” He commented. His face seemed more pink than normal.

“Well, uh I can braid your hair too” He said as he grabbed a wooden comb from the pile. I nodded. Link sat me down on clothes and sat behind me. The boy gently combed my hair straight and he fishtailed my hair. “How can you do that, Link?” I asked curiously. “My mother taught me before the calamity” He responded.

He took a picture of it as well and showed me. “It looks so much better than my braid..” I say flabbergasted. He chuckles. Then he looked rigged. “What's w-” “Do you want paint on too?” He interrupted me looking interested. “I guess, what colors do you have?” I ask looking back at him. “Any color you’d like” He replied.

“I would like a purple color, kinda like yours” She said as she looked at his markings. “I see” He said as he stood up AGAIN and said while blending paint, “i think a more vibrant purple color will suit your skin tone” He mixed some blue, red with already existing purple making it more purple.

He walked over with a jar full of paint. “First I'll go from your face, down ok?” he asked while he dipped his fingers into the jar. “Okay” I say while feeling butterflies in my stomach. He stares intently at my cheeks as he presses his cold painted finger on parts of my face. “As soon as I’m done, I'll show you on the reflecting glass” I nod, as his hands trail from my chin to my neck.

He made three dots on my shoulders and re-dipped his finger into the jar. He drew some lines and circles on my arms and a small triangle on the top of my wrist. Then he repeated onto the other arm. Then he made a swirl on my stomach just above my belly button. I blush at the touch. “Turn around” He said while making more purple lines on my body.

I turn around and he makes a nice hum sound. “Your actual tattoo is so detailed, is it like a birthmark or..” I nod. “Yeah it’s a birthmark, everyone thought it was so weird it was there when I was born, since I was apparently 100% Hylian” I giggle.

Link then makes some more symbols on my back, but I don't know what they are. “Stand up and turn around again” I do as he says and he puts paint on my thighs. They were lines and circles.

“I think you’re done, Akira” He says as he wipes his stained hand on a cloth on the ground. “Okay, can I see?” I asked curiously. “Yeah follow me” He said. I followed him like a lost puppy until We were in front of a reflection. We looked like we were fixing to burn down a village. “Here I forgot something” He disappeared and appeared again a few minutes later with a helm.

It was a cat skull with red braids and tribal ornaments. “It’s lovely,” I say as he puts it on my head. “It suits you very well, Akira” He smiles at me through the reflection.

“Should we go find something to eat?” Link asked as he took my hand and dragged me outside. “Well I guess I'm hungry” I say as I look around. “What are you thinking, big guy?” I ask as I skim the jungle. “Birds, deer, squirrels..Anything” He said as he equipped himself with a bow and an axe. “What should I use?” I ask while I pet my horse.

“Here is a dagger and light weighted bow, it's ok if you break either of those though” He said as he handed me the weapons. “..okay, so what do I use on what?” I asked. It dawned on him. “You don’t know how to use weapons huh?” I smiled. “Nope!” I said as I sheathed my dagger.

Link hopped on my horse and lended me hand to get up on there as well. I took his hand and sat in front of him. I had one hand on the rein and one of the saddle pommel. Link grabbed the opposite side of the rein, and his other hand rested on my hip. I went a little ridged. I tapped Hocus’s sides with my feet stirrup. “Okay we are going to an area that is peaceful, so we can ruin the lives of animals! HAH'' He laughed maniacally.

-TIME SKIP AFTER THE HUNTING SHENANIGANS-

I held all the bird eggs and Link lugged the deer bodies and bird bodies, onto Hocus, before letting him carry it back. “You are literally so weird Akira” Link laughed remembering what she did twenty mins later. “Sorry I threw a bird at you Link, I thought you were gonna shoot it” She giggled.

“You threw it in my face Akira!” he yelled, chuckling afterward. “Well how was I supposed to know my strength!” I yelled back laughing. Link and I walked beside Hocus. We walked to the cave, before Link grabbed the meat off of the horse before going into the cave. After gently setting down the raw meat, I pulled out a few carrots for Hocus. “Be right back!” I yelled.

I greet Hocus and pet him. He neighs with delight before searching me for food. I give him the carrot laughing.

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