These heroes can be real idiots sometimes, Wind thinks dully as he watches yet another poorly concocted plan pan out exactly as terribly as he had foretold it would. This one even involves explosives for that added spice of death.
“For Hylia’s sake,” he says out loud as Sky throws his sailcloth over Hyrule’s hair which is literally on fire.
“Well done everyone,” Time praises once all flames are successfully smothered. They look a mess, the lot of them. Hyrule’s hair is missing chunks and still smoking a little bit, Wild is sporting both a wide grin and a broken arm and Legend is noticeably limping as he joins the rest of the group where they’re congregated.
“I would say that was a pretty successful ambush. We managed to take out all the enemies—”
“And half the mountain,” Wind adds.
“—we may have to work on bringing down casualties on our side, but that’s something we can talk about for next time. Right now, I say we take a well-earned rest. Sky, can you distribute potions to those who need them, please?”
OKAY SO I LOVE THIS SO SO MUCH! the ficlet went even better than i had imagined and BRO THIS ART TOO AAAAAAAAH!!! y'all are amazing. anyway i love this idea too much so i hope it’s okay if i bandwagon!
Twilight paused, examining the silence.
He took a breath.
“Who were you?”
After a moment, he shifted back into a wolf, glancing up until his kind, curious blue eyes fell on Wind.
Wind paused.
Who was he, indeed.
It had been so long.
Who were you?
“I was a hero, just like the rest of you. I got the Triforce, defeated Ganondorf, saved Tetra—though I guess you would call her Zelda—and I was brought here along with you guys. My birth name is even Link, too! The only difference is that I—”
He froze, staring down at his hands, emotion choking his nonexistent throat.
It struck him, then. He’d never said it before. Not to anyone who could hear him.
He’d never told anyone how he’d died.
He’d never told anyone anything in two hundred years.
His eyes welled up with invisible liquid and, despite his lack of need for breath, his chest shook.
Some habits never died and some things would always bring tears.
For the first time in one hundred and eighty-five years, Wind sobbed.
Twilight padded forward, attempting to nuzzle Wind, but his snout passed straight through the blue mist that swirled around Wind’s non-corporeal form, Wind falling to the ground and curling up, despite no longer being affected by gravity. He reached out, desperate to run his fingers through Wolfie’s fur, to feel anything, but once again, his hand fell forward without the slightest resistance and he was met with nothing.
That was all he ever felt anymore.
That was all he ever was anymore.
But not anymore, as Wolfie’s round, sad eyes looked into his.
Wind buried his face in his translucent hands as if to hide his tears and heard the telltale sound of wolf becoming Hylian.
He glanced up to see Twilight extend his arms, a soft, warm, sad smile on his face, a clear invitation for a hug. Wind dove forward, the unfamiliar but desperately, achingly familiar posture finally directed at him and he dove into Twilight’s arms, bringing himself to a halt in the center of the embrace and leaning forward, his forehead resting against where he approximated Twilight’s heart to be. Wind could almost feel it beating.
“I can feel you,” Twilight whispered, and Wind froze.
“Like a warm breeze off the lake at night. It’s nice.” He leaned forward, pressing his own arms against his chest, pulling himself into Wind’s space, Wind’s very spirit growing warm and tingly at the love and care directed at him.
Wind closed his eyes and soaked Twilight’s warmth up into the space where his heart would have been.
//again @lyrabythelake i love your fic idea so much and i really don’t wanna hijack it too much so lemme know if you want me to stop :0c
Legend and Twilight—and the ghost, Wind, he supposed—spent the rest of the day hiking along together. Legend wouldn’t let Twilight transform again and, from what Twilight had told him, it was a sentiment Wind shared. Legend had too many questions, though, and asked Twilight for as many details as he could. Twilight did his best to recall as much as he could of what Wind had told him, a burst of air pushing his bangs into his face whenever he told something wrong.
But Legend had a question that Twilight was too polite to ask.
[Image descriptions: Sky-Squido’s addition contains a series of comically minimally detailed doodles, first shows Twilight busting a door down shouting “Midna!”, followed in the next image by Twilight aggressively gripping Midna’s shoulders, which is indeed slightly awkward given she’s taller, with wide manic cartoony bug eyes & shouting in her face, “Have you seen an unconscious sassy blond kid!” The third image simply shows Midna, still with equally cartoonishly wide bug-eyes, still in shock, wordlessly shaking her head.
4th image shows Twilight running off, leaving Midna in the sane exact shocked position as before, shouting, “Alright Leg let’s try Lourule!”
5th image shows Ravio facepalming in the background as Legend shouts at a very unimpressed Hilda, “Hilda have you seen my Ghost friend’s body!?
6th image shows a faraway view of Koholint Island, but with a large shouting text bubble coming from somewhere on the island as follows, “Hey anyone seen a sassy half-dead blonde kid!?!” A smaller text bubble reads as, "Other than you? Nope.”
7th image simply shows Legend & Twilight standing there drawn in even less detail than before, Wind’s ghost hovering nearby too, an ellipsis in the center of the image indicating an awkward pause.
8th image Twilight abruptly busts out the shout, “Hey Time remember that time you killed the moon!?!“
Final image shows the crew in Clocktown, Moon in the Sky comedically offended by the affront on timespace the concept, while Time the man stands off to the side thinking, "I don’t get paid enough for this,” & Legend, missing his hat for some reason, shouting “Sassy dead blonde kid!” at some random person. Wind’s ghost is hovering nearby, blushing & covering his face, text indicates that he’s “dying of embarrassment & love.”
End of Descriptions for Squido’s images.]
[Image Description (for W1lmutt’s art a few additions above in the reblog chain): Full color illustration depicting Wild & Hyrule laughing in the warmly lit foreground, while Wind’s ghost does an unimpressed & slightly squiggly frown with his arms crossed in the darker forested background, featuring much colder colors to contrast with the warmth from the scene Wind is watching.
*gasp* Your askbox is open again!!! O frabjous day. :D Answering your call for Sky requests. Could we pls get him hanging out with his immediate successor Four? I've always found it a bit strange they're almost never portrayed as having a relationship similar to Downfall Duo or Time+Twilight, given that Four probably grew up on stories of Sky's exploits and likely looks up to him a lot.
Oh, what a great request, now lemme just sketch this real quick *blacks out for seven hours* OH...
Soooo, here you go, two guys hanging out on the sky islands! Sorry for the wait, and hope you like it!
Linked Universe things that sound like headcanons but are 100% canon, Part 2
Part 1 here
-Wild has growled at people before.
-Being a gremlin seems to be an essential part of the Hero’s Spirit—Even Warriors, as strict and focused on acting "normal" as he is, once rode a flying log while raining literal fire on a bunch of bokoblins.
-Time had a Long Hair Era and kept it in a braid. Malon was a fan.
-Time started wearing his armor in the first place to impress Malon.
-Four loves small things, but small things love Four more.
-The Links all have uncontrollable urges to smash pots whenever they see them.
-Hyrule and Legend have a kind of sixth sense for dungeons and hidden treasure.
-Hyrule loves puns.
-Hyrule isn’t really intimidated by anyone else in the Chain (unlike some of the other Heroes) and is more than willing to poke fun at any of them.
-Legend and Hyrule have pretty much the same haircut, but they look different because they have different hair types.
-The Links all have unique fighting styles based on how their respective games nudge you to play, but their styles are also based on their own personal experiences and strengths, even before they became Heroes.
-Legend really does have knight issues, but he seems to have accepted that the knights in the Chain aren’t a threat to him.
-Warriors is filthy rich. He is the only one who knows or believes this.
-Wild is arguably the most physically affectionate Link.
-Time has semi-jokingly threatened to relieve Warriors of his head before.
-Sky and Twilight both have a bit of a grudge against the mailman.
-Wind can’t stand it when the others take too long to make decisions and prefers to take action himself where possible.
Rewatched Alice in Wonderland recently and decided that every fandom is required to have some sort of Alice in Wonderland Au. So, here’s the Linked Universe Alice in Wonderland Au that no one asked for!
I kinda changed and played with some of the ideas, so that things could make a little more sense for the characters, especially for Sky; but hopefully who they’re supposed to represent shines through!
Chapter Summary: How many times can one person pass out in a day before it becomes a Problem?
You can read the chapter here on ao3
Chapter under the cut :)
“You know, once you get past the torn flesh and mind-melting horror of it all, you aren’t half bad to look at.” You admit, wrapped in a blanket cocoon and clutching a cup of tea that you’re pretty sure Wild made for you while you were passed out at your kitchen table. Hyrule smiles nervously across the table, rubbing the back of his neck in a boyish show of bashfulness.
“I didn’t think you’d actually pass out from seeing me. The first time I saw a ghost myself, I got physically ill, but I guess your body has a different reaction to spirits.” Hyrule hums, pressing a blood soaked finger to his bottom lip. You half expect it to stain, but you’re starting to learn that the injuries on his body are almost purely cosmetic. The blood doesn’t rub off on anything, and despite his dead eye, he can see perfectly well.
“I guess… Why did you even need to see ghosts? For like, a quest or something?” You ask, genuinely curious. Hyrule flushes, his cheeks tinged a pleasant red, and he glances away with a nervous smile.
“Haha, I actually used to have an item to see ghosts… but I lost it. I was really into magic theory at the time, so I kinda… reverse-engineered the spell into a functioning tonic.” Hyrule shrugs, like it’s no big deal. You aren’t too familiar with magic yourself, but that sounds like quite the feat of magical science to you.
“I don’t even know how that would work. Do you think you could show me how to do magic like that?” You ask, excitedly drawing Hyrule’s tome closer to your chest.
“Sure! I-“ Hyrule cuts himself off, looking to the side just as you feel a chill brush up against you. You figure Four must’ve come into the room and is talking to the ghost in front of you, and eventually Hyrule turns his attention back to you.
“Four is asking if you want to talk to the rest of us. Everyone except Time is here.”
“Ah! I completely forgot! I guess I was just happy to get to talk to even one of you, but I can speak to all of you now, can’t I?” You grin, shooting up from your seat. Hyrule begins to float away, guiding you to the office where all of their anchors are apparently gathered.
“Are you sure you can handle looking at all of us? I don’t want you passing out again…” Hyrule frets, wringing his hands in front of himself. You wave vaguely, already reaching for Wild’s tablet which has been charging in the corner of the room since you found it.
“It shouldn’t be that bad. I got used to you pretty quickly-“ You pause, finding yourself faced with the same man from the forest from almost a week ago. Long blonde hair, electric blue eyes. He even has a ghostly version of the tablet clipped to his belt. But that’s not what catches your attention. Instead, your eyes stray to where his right arm should be, only to find a bloody stub. Your throat constricts, bile rising in your throat, and you take a moment to just- breathe.
Apparently the injuries can get worse than a lightning strike through the eye. Wild extends his remaining arm, clutching at the air between the two of you as if to try and catch you. You appreciate the effort, taking his hand and letting him lead you safely to the floor.
“Are you okay? Should I grab you some water?” Wild asks, squeezing your hand in reassurance as you take in a couple more breaths, trying to make sure you won’t throw up while trying to answer him.
“I’m fine- just startled. Are you- okay?” You ask, and immediately regret it. Of course he’s not okay. He’s dead.
“Oh, this old thing? Y’know, getting my arm ripped off probably isn’t the worst injury I’ve gotten, but I guess the blood loss got me in the end.” Wild jokes, leaning back on the balls of his feet, grinning as you try to process his words. He got his arm ripped off. And he’s joking about it.
It’s so absurd that you can’t help but laugh. Luckily, Wild and Hyrule join in, and you move to stand back up to continue finding the anchors in your office.
“Luckily not all of us have such ugly injuries,” Hyrule hums while you walk to where you left Twilight's rock.
“Don’t talk like that… You guys died. Of course it’s not going to be pretty. Even so… You guys are,” You pause heat pooling in your cheeks as you consider what you were about to say. Were you really about to call them handsome after seeing them for only a couple minutes?
To be fair, they truthfully were very handsome, looking almost rugged due to their injuries, but with a charm you were beginning to suspect was a trait all heroes carried.
You only got more of a confirmation when you picked up Twilight's rock and were met with the disheveled man, his nearly brown hair tousled, some slight scratches on his cheeks but otherwise looking less injured than the other two. You do notice his shirt is torn around the shoulder, and when you carefully circle him, there are claw-like gashes raking down his back.
It must be something about seeing the killing strike that sets you off, because immediately after seeing the wounds, you feel your knees lock, and you’re pretty sure your vision goes white for a second. Your doctor will be having words with you if you ever tell them about all of the fainting spells you’ve been having.
“Might wanna slow down there, darlin’. Maybe we should take a break. I don’t want you hurtin’ yourself.” Twilight drawls in a country accent that suits him a little too well. You hum your agreement, pocketing his rock, and are a little surprised when he doesn’t disappear. Does the potion work as long as the anchor is on your person? You suppose that makes sense to a certain degree.
“Why is you anchor a rock, anyway? Everyone else has like cool books and swords and stuff.” You point out, and Twilight looks off to the side like he’s debating whether to tell you or not.
“It’s not just a rock. It’s a Shadow Crystal, a piece of Twilight meant to curse all who touch it.” Twilight explains, and you let out a curious hum, turning the crystal around in your hand.
“Does that mean I’m cursed now?” You ask, feeling a nervous thrill shoot down your spine. That would be the cherry on top of your haunted sundae now wouldn’t it?
“Luckily, no. I can control when it activates now that I’m anchored to it.” Twilight grins, and a little fang pokes out of his smile. how can one man look so cute? Heat trickles into your cheeks, and you quickly look away, conveniently making eye contact with the Master Sword in the next second.
“So Sky is connected to the master sword… Maybe knowing what injuries he has beforehand will help?” You wonder, hand hovering over the hilt of the sword.
“He was the first of us to die that night. Killed in his sleep before any of us even knew what happened.” Twilight bites out, upset by the events. Wild sets a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring look.
“He was stabbed through the chest and bled out.” Hyrule finishes the explanation, looking off to the side. Your mouth is dry, and you swallow hard, trying to imagine what the man would even look like. It sounds horrible. But to be targeted first, and while asleep, no less…
Was Sky such a big threat that whatever villain attacked them needed him dead before everyone else?
You wrap your hand around the Master Sword’s handle, picking it up almost reverently. Sky appears before your eyes, his eyes grey as slate, like a downcast day. Like Hyrule described, there’s a stab wound in the middle of his chest, standing out bright and red against his embroidered green tunic. You take in a sharp breath, but luckily don’t feel like fainting this time. Instead, you feel dread crawl up your spine and an odd sense of loss.
“Do you feel okay? No fainting spells, or..?” Sky frets, voice soft and filled with worry as he floats closer. You swallow around the lump in your throat, offering a shaky smile.
“I’m fine. Better than the last few times. It’s still startling, but I think this is better.” You swing the master sword onto your shoulder, only now realizing that it might be a little difficult to keep a bunch of sacred relics on your person at a single time. It feels a little irreverent to just wear them, but what other choice do you have?
“Who do you want to meet next?” Wild asks, sliding up beside you now that you’ve grabbed all of the known anchors in the room.
“How about Four?” You suggest, a chill brushing up against you at your words.
“His anchor would be this shield over here-“ Twilight calls out, pointing to a shield displayed on the wall. There’s a staff with a red gem on it next to it, which you suspect is probably somebody else’s anchor.
“Four was separated from the group, transported to a wintery landscape where he eventually succumbed to the elements without his equipment. For us, he was only gone for an hour at most. For him, it must’ve been weeks.” Hyrule explains, and you wince at the new information. Each death seems to be more gruesome than the last. Whoever was attacking these heroes did so with calculated intent.
Taking the shield from its wall mount, you finally turn your attention to the cold pocket inside of the room, finally coming face to face with Four. He offers a smile, skin looking bruised from the frostbite he must’ve experienced before his death. Whatever skin isn’t purpled and bruised is pale and tinted a cold blue. He looks like a frail sculpture carved from ice.
“Don’t go crying on me, now.” Four grins, ice-chapped lips tugging up in a way that looks almost painful. You know the ghosts can’t actually feel pain, but to have died from exposure and the cold in such a gruesome way…
“I’m not crying. Say, this person that killed you guys- they wouldn’t happen to still be around, would they?” You ask, jokingly cracking your knuckles. Four laughs loudly, clutching his stomach with the force of the action.
“You really think you could take him on?” He asks, grinning down at you.
“Maybe not, but I could give him a piece of my mind.” Your grin turns wolfish, and Four continues to laugh.
After a while, you turn your attention towards the staff still on display, asking if it might be one of their anchors.
“That’s Legend’s. He was hit with a paralytic pretty early on, but before he could really recover, they shot him through his throat and he bled out. Still managed to do some damage despite all of that.” Wild gives a sideways smile, elbowing the open air beside him. You suppose that’s where Legend is, and pick up the staff to confirm.
Legend looks unamused, swatting at Wild who’s still playfully jabbing at him. Like Wild described, there’s an arrow shot through the front of his throat, the sharp tip piercing all the way through to the other side of his neck. His tunic is stained with blood from the injury, and you quickly look away before you can become any more nauseous.
“Sorry, I know it’s a gruesome sight.” Legend apologizes, voice smooth, and you realize this is your first time hearing his real voice. Before, it was always chopped up lines of whatever you’d said yourself, or words taken from calls you answered on speakerphone. He has a pretty nice voice, you have to admit.
“Don’t apologize. I think you’re beautiful.” You admit truthfully. Past the blood and the bruises, he still somehow carries a boyish innocence. A playful side with a bite to it. Even if this is your first time hearing his actual voice, you know exactly how he speaks, snarky and sarcastic but capable of being serious when the situation calls for it. The tinge of a blush covering his cheeks at your words isn’t half bad to look at, either.
“Wind’s been begging for his turn. We should move on before he explodes.” Sky laughs, floating over to a pure white baton set on a small display stand. You move to pick it up, but Wild’s hand on your arm stops you.
“It might be kind of rough. He’s still…” Wild starts, turning to look behind him. You wonder if Wind is standing there. You have your own theories on Wind, his identity and how he died, but you decide to wait for your friends to explain it to you.
“There’s a basin a little further into the forest. It had rained recently, filling it up, and the rest of us were too overwhelmed. By the time anyone noticed, he was already…” Twilight chokes on his words, covering his mouth with his hand.
“We should have been there for him. Out of any of us…” Sky glares at his hands, seeming broken up about the event, and you frown, taking the baton in your hand, only to see exactly why everyone is reacting how they are.
Wind is… He’s a kid. He can’t be over thirteen, nearly a head shorter than most of the rest of the heroes. You know monsters are called what they are for a reason, but to have drowned a kid so young is still- it feels like too much. Your eyes well up with tears, and you find yourself stumbling forward, hands outstretched to hold the blue tinged child in your hands.
You stumble right through him, and that only serves to break you down more as the tears finally fall and start rolling down your cheeks as you grip at open air. There’s a sniffle from overhead, and you glance up to see Wind quietly wiping at his cheeks and runny nose as his own tears start to spill. They splash on your head, real and heartbreaking as Wind eventually falls to his knees , hugging you tightly as his tears stain your shirt- the only part of him that you can feel, but at the moment, it’s the only part that matters.
“How could they do this to you… sweet boy, you deserved better than this.” You whisper into sodden golden lockes- still dripping with water from the basin that took his life. Wind chokes on whatever his response was meant to be, continuing to cry and attempt to hold you ever more tightly, your shirt becoming soaked as his abilities run wild.
Something warm and soft covers your back, and you peek up to see the dark blue blanket that you usually wrap yourself in when it gets too cold in the office. You also see somebody new- Warriors, smiling down at you, left arm mangled and bloody splotches covering his face and clothes. He’s also wearing a blood soaked scarf which looks suspiciously like the blanket now covering your back.
“I know there’s nothing I can do about what happened… But I promise I’ll do my best to help you guys from here on.” You whisper, reaching up to wipe the tears from Wind’s face before standing fully to address all of the ghosts in the room.
“Time is gone for now, right? In that case, while we wait for him to catch back up with us… What do you guys say to a little outing?”
Made this for the lu prompt, a joke that's a little late but nonetheless funny to me XD also the features are flipped cuz I worked on this mirrored and forgor until I was finished lmao
