SueMiller

Author/reader SueMiller on AO3 and FFN

[suemillerauthor]

From the Shadows - Chapter 27: A Mighty Wind

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31324166/chapters/163081291

They had all dismounted and Shadow Link had just bid farewell to Epona when there was a flurry of movement and angry squawking, and then an irate Rito woman with long hair that curled at the ends and large, gold hoop earrings was pushing aside the guards to scowl at them. “You had better have an exceptional explanation for where you’ve been, fledgling!” she spat, and it was then that Shadow Link realized that this must be Saki, Tulin’s mother. A guilty frown crossed the teen’s face for a moment. “I’m sorry I made you worry.” Then his expression cleared. “But I’m not sorry I went. Mom— I beat the Trial of Air and a voice told me I’d earned the title of Rito Champion!” But she wasn’t interested in hearing such things just then. “Well, congratulations. I hope you enjoyed it, because you won’t be leaving the roost again until you molt! You also earned a whole year’s worth of extra chores! And whatever else I can think of when I calm down!” “Aw, Mom!” Tulin’s face fell, but only for a moment. “Worth it,” he smirked conspiratorially to Shadow Link. “I heard that!”

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“Hey! I can see the Frost Gleeok!” The juvenile Rito exclaimed excitedly. “Yay,” Shadow Link said, immediately veering to the right in an effort to escape the notice of the enormous monster. He could see even from this distance the large snowflakes on each head, the frosty, glowing accents in its necks, and wicked spikes lining the back and tail. “We’re not going to fight it?” Tulin asked, disappointed, when he realized he was being steered as far away as possible. “Fuck, no. Not if I can help it.” “What? Why not?” “Why don’t I want to fight a gigantic, three-headed, elemental dragon? Oh, I don’t know… common sense?” “My mom says mine’s underdeveloped.”

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“Ah, good; we’re all here,” King Rohm said, clasping his hands behind his back while Zelda and Middle Impa came to stand on either side of him. He introduced them both, adding, “I believe you already know Young Impa.” The Sheikah maiden came forward and grasped his forearm with a warm smile and a deliberate touch to his hand that was obviously for the king’s benefit. “It’s good to see you again, Shadow Link.”  He nodded at her in return.  “You’ve had quite the adventures since we last met,” she said, moving to stand next to the princess.  “I have, and I’m sure you don’t even know the most important parts yet,” he warned, then took them through Zant’s tale, his confrontation with Ganondorf, discovering Midna’s fate, and destroying the jewel in which she’d been imprisoned. “She’s been fighting by my side ever since because she can’t go home quite yet.” “Why not?” Zelda broke her long silence to ask.  “I wasn’t able to free her all the way.” “What do you mean?” Young Impa asked. Her mother inquired, “Where is she now?” “This is most unusual,” put in Rohm, looking concerned. “She’s in my shadow, but she reformed the jewel in my sword so she can still lend her power to it. She’s stuck as an imp because she wouldn’t let me destroy the Fused Shadow on her head.” All four of the people directly in front of him, and likely several guards behind, exhibited the same confused expression. It was Young Impa who asked, “What does that mean? Where exactly is Midna?”

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

His body reassembled under an overcast sky at a crossroads midway between the destroyed southern gate into the ruins of Hyrule Castle Town and the northern gate of the fort-style enclosure that had cropped up around the Sacred Ground Ruins, which had been labeled New Castle Town on the map. He was also practically straddling one gangly metal leg of a Guardian Stalker. “Shit!” He grabbed both his sword and shield and immediately whacked at the metal appendage. Dark and unoccupied as it was, though, the blade failed to take the limb all the way off on the first hack and the Guardian both moved away and turned its eye toward him, firing up its targeting mechanism. “Midna!” The imp appeared with a yawning stretch to blink balefully at him, but almost immediately perked up as she noticed the danger at hand. “Ooh, a challenge!” A flash of turquoise near his knee brought the sword in his hand to life— but its glow had morphed into a deep blood red and the new jewel shone with a steady light. Confidence surged through him. He turned and brought his shield up just in time to deflect the Guardian’s laser beam right back at itself, scoring a hit to the base of one of the legs, shearing it clean off and sending the mechanical monster reeling wildly, parts flying like shrapnel. The Stalker landed on its side, remaining metal limbs flailing madly and exposing a large, glowing blue spot on its vulnerable underside. The sword’s light intensified and the handle gave a distinct shake in his hand. He drew back and stabbed directly into the metal belly of the Guardian, the brightness of the blade waning as the energy shot from it into the machine, overwhelming its capacity and shorting it out.  It sputtered and died as it lay, spitting out a small pile of various parts, some he recognized and some Navi identified for him. As he was bent over to grab a glowing spherical object Navi called a giant Ancient core, he heard the telltale sounds of another Guardian’s targeting system and turned to find a second Stalker bearing down on him from the southeast. As he was setting himself to deflect the shot with his shield, however, he heard yet another targeting mechanism fire up and turned his head back to find that a decayed Stalker, partially buried in the dirt near the decrepit wall guarding what was left of the old town, had been awakened by the ruckus. “Fuck.”

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Another roaring cheer went up and then lingered in the air. Shadow Link had been feeling his energy lagging, the long lack of sleep and a regular meal finally catching up with him, but the extended clamor was surprisingly invigorating.

Well, that and the enthusiastic claps on his back and shoulders. Even though he braced himself, the well-intended blows nearly sent him staggering a few times.

“All right, all right, now, that’s enough. Let ‘em breathe, blast ya!” Bludo commanded, cane banging on the ground once more. The crowd immediately calmed and took a step back. “We were worried somethin’ fierce ‘bout the both a’ya. ‘Specially when it was reported that you’d disappeared from the armory without a trace. What happened? Where you been?”

“Inside the mountain,” Yunobo replied.

Eyebrows shot up all around. “How’d you wind up there?” Bludo asked, a little incredulously.

“Well, it’s the craziest thing,” Yunobo began, launching into the story. The crowd reacted nearly as one, gasping and chuckling in the appropriate places, predictably shocked at the tales of legendary fire-monsters come to life and the Guardian that had besieged them.

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“Volvagia?” “Well, I’ve never actually seen it before, of course, but it’s gotta be,” Yunobo answered, eyeing the fiery lindwyrm. “Volvagia was an ancient dragon that was basically the spirit of Death Mountain, it lived in the depths. But it was corrupted; the Evil One would feed Gorons to it as an example to the other Hyruleans. Legends say that an ancient Goron Hero defeated it, but I guess Ganondorf or the pointy guy revived it.” “Fantastic. Any idea how it was defeated?” “With the Megaton Hammer, but that’s been lost to time.” “Of course it has.” They watched the dragon twist with elegant danger in midair for a moment. On the downturn, it breathed a bolt of flame at them, but that was easily dodged and the dragon dipped back into the magma. After a moment, it popped up in a different spot and the cycle repeated itself. At the apex of its aerial turn, Volvagia came in close proximity to the upper levels and the ghost of a plan began forming in Shadow Link’s head. It would have to wait for a moment, however, as there were still several obstacles in their path; their brief respite ended when a Gohma leapt into his peripheral vision and began to open its eye. The Shadow readied his shield while Yunobo surrounded himself with his protective red aura. The beam rebounded toward a second Gohma, which leapt backward and quickly unleashed its own shot. Tilting his shield just a bit, Shadow Link directed the blast into the side of the first Gohma, pushing it over the edge. He shot the second Gohma with the Stasis rune, allowing Yunobo to hit it until the effect wore off and it screamed into the magma, as well. The prince gave an excited “Whoop!” and held out his huge knuckles for Shadow Link to bump. “Hey, that was pretty neat! I bet that would work on Volvagia, too!” “Did you see how close it came to that walkway up there?” Shadow Link asked, pointing. “Let’s go!” Yunobo’s enthusiasm, once triggered, rivaled Sidon’s.

Sorry for the extended hiatus over the summer. I do promise never to abandon this story, but this chapter really was a struggle and also life happened lol

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Yunobo’s face brightened considerably. “You know, I thought you might’ve been pulling our legs about bein’ Shadow Link, but it’s really you, isn’t it?”

The Shadow nodded. “What convinced you?”

“Well, when Link came to visit Bludo a few months ago, he never said a word to anyone, as far as I know. Just wrote notes or made gestures.”

“Yeah, I hear he was a quiet guy— look out!” The archers to the north had spotted them and shot two flaming arrows their way. Yunobo rolled into a protective ball and the Shadow’s shield deflected them easily, quickly retaliating with ice arrows.

“Those are sure handy. Almost makes me wish I didn’t break every bow I try to draw back,” Yunobo chuckled.

“Well, here,” the Shadow said, taking the Ice Rod off his belt and holding it out for his companion to take. “Not sure how many shots are left in this, but you might as well get what use you can out of it.” 

“Whoa,” the Goron marveled. He turned the device in his hand to see it from all angles. “Um. How do I work this?”

“Oh, just swing your arm like you’re going to throw it at something— but don’t— and it’ll freeze whatever’s in your way.”

“Neat!”

Finally, a new chapter!

Also, its my son’s 13th birthday today!

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The Shadow wondered, not for the first time, what in the overheated hell was happening on top of the smoking mountain. “What’s over there?” he asked, gesturing to the outpost he could only just barely see across the lava river at the edge of the camp as he resolved to deal with one problem at a time.

“Eh, bunch’a Moblins and them damned fire-breathers. Nothin’ too terrible, but we can’t do much about it because this is the only functioning mine right now so if we stop for more than just short breaks, production halts altogether instead’a just laggin’, and we can’t have that. Hyrule depends on the ore we produce.”

“It also depends on the mountain not erupting and burying everyone in boiling hot lava.”

“Tha’s a fair point.”

“And what are the ‘new monsters’ attacking the upper mines?”

“Above my pay grade is what that is. But whatever’s goin’ on, it’s bad enough to have repurposed most of the workforce to try an’ deal with it so watch yerself, li’l guy.”

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

He knew any arrow but Light would basically be a waste, but he didn’t want to obliterate the Guardian if he was going to mine it for parts afterward, so had to get its attention in order to get it to fire its beam at him. He grabbed a bomb arrow and aimed at the nearest Skywatcher— which wasn’t actually that close, it was at least two stories below him and out far enough that he felt the need to use the straight-shooting Ancient bow— carefully waiting for the best moment. 

In the next heartbeat, he regretted his decision to pick a fight with the flying bastard because it had already swung its laser eye up and around, locked onto him, and shot a deadly beam of white-hot energy.

Unable to bring his shield up in time, he reacted on instinct, throwing himself backward as the shot just missed his head. He’d expected to land on the floor, but was too close to the opening where one could conceivably climb up from the base of the tower (were it not guarded by multiple ridiculous flying fuckers) and he hit the stone railing hard with a crack! that he felt before hearing and then toppled over. He flailed in the air ineffectually for a few moments before landing with another crack! in a painful heap on the highest of the landings that staggered the tall cylinder of the tower like climbing lily pads. He closed his eyes against a wave of nausea.

“Hey! That was fast!”

“Your powers of observation remain unrivaled,” he groaned. “Fuck! I wasn’t ready for that.”

“Are you all right?”

“Might’ve cracked a rib.” He concentrated on controlling his breathing against the rolling waves of pain. “Uuungh, or two. Maybe three. Fuck.”

“Use the charm Mipha gave you!” 

“Oh, yeah. Almost forgot,” he said, bringing his hand up to wrap around the symbol now hanging from his neck. A soft green glow enveloped him and his brain called up the scent of petrichor without any input from his nose. “Whoa.” He felt… amazing, physically speaking. “That’s probably going to get a lot of use.”

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

They ended up in the sunken room with the Guidance Stone and the statue of Link. Mipha came to a stop a few feet from the likeness of her late husband, looking up at his stone face. The Shadow stood next to her, about an arm’s length away, watching her.

She didn’t seem sad, perhaps wistful. “I am sure you are aware by now that I married the Link of the cycle I was born to,” she began, turning to accept the Shadow’s nod. “We’d become quite close over the long campaign against Ganondorf. The Link that you…” she trailed off, meeting his eyes with a small, awkward smile. “Well, while obviously not as close as my own dear Link, he was someone I would consider a friend, although he was closer with Princess Zelda.” She frowned.

“I’m sure she already knows; I’ve been to Kakariko and met the Impas. Young Impa left at around the same time I did, headed for Hyrule Castle.”

"That is good. Impa is whom I would've chosen to break such news to her," Mipha nodded, looking back to the statue. “Will you tell me the story now?”

He’d sort of figured this was coming and nodded, taking a breath. “There’s really not a whole lot to tell,” he started. She listened quietly, face drawn as he described the battle with Link. She drew in her breath and widened her eyes in amazement when he mentioned being visited by the Golden Goddesses and a tiny jingle sounded behind the Shadow’s ear.

“Navi?” Mipha gasped, looking his way. There was another quiet noise from the Fairy and Mipha’s smile broke wide open. “That is more reassuring than your Mark to me; I believe a Mark could be faked by one with powerful enough magic, but no one could fake Navi.” He could almost hear the Sprite’s smirk forming.

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

The Shadow decided to take that as his cue. He’d like to get this moving so he could get some damned sleep sometime soon, the toll of the last however-many hours finally starting to make itself known by pulling slightly at the back of his eyelids. Or possibly it was just his natural irritation coming to the fore. “Hey.” The reaction was instantaneous: the figure shot straight up on the throne with a squeal, sleeves so long any hands were completely covered, eight tassels hanging over the edge of each armrest like long, boneless fingers. “Aah!” Then, leaning forward, “Ooh, another light-dweller!” The pointed tip of the helmet tilted to one side. The bulging, wide-set eyes on it made it seem disturbingly lizard-like— a similarity that was doubled by the metal tongue, coiled and ready to strike. “You don’t look anything like the others. How fascinating!” “Oh, I’m a novelty all right.” “Are you the one who changed the island?” “I could ask you the same thing. You the one blocking out the sun?”

[fluencylevelfrench]

It's just me, my laptop and my coffee against this word document.

[orisnitsa]

[bowlby4]

[suemillerauthor]

One of my fantastic readers, SarunoHadaki, has created some amazing fanart! 

For my Shadow Link fanfic, From the Shadows. Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31324166

[suemillerauthor]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

“What the Goddess Statue told you is eerily similar to what Calip said. About the Key and the light and the darkness.” 

“I noticed that, too.” He sighed. “What do you suppose the odds are that I get out of this without having to pass the trial?”

“Not great.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured, too. What can you tell me about it?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“What? Why? Didn’t your last Link have to pass it?”

“No, he passed a different trial— three of them, actually— to earn the Master Sword.”

[archiveofidentityconstellations]

“And remember: the sky is the limit! You can be anything you want to be!”

“Thank you. I want to be a secretary.”

That stopped them short. “What?”

“A secretary,” she repeated.

“But…” they trailed off, dumbfounded. “Why? You could be a CEO, a scientist, a law–”

“I don’t want to be a CEO,” she said. “I want to be a secretary.”

[archiveofidentityconstellations]

They scoffed. “You want to answer phones all day?”

She smiled. “Yes.”

“Schedule appointments?”

“I like organizing.”

“Be a second banana?”

An affirmative nod. “I’m skilled at helping.”

“I just don’t understand,” they said. “HOW could you be okay with all of this?!”

“I enjoy the work.”

“BUT YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE!”

“I know.”

“Then WHY?!”

She shrugged.

“Because I want to be a secretary.”

[dangerously-human]

Honestly though, this is very similar to my mom’s experience. She’s always been super bright, but has realized as she’s gotten older that intellectual pursuits just aren’t her jam. She dropped out of her PhD program to have kids, and although she has her master’s and was a pretty good school psychologist, she hated having to make huge decisions. She’s a church secretary now and loves it, and she’s GOOD at it; she’s letting her school psych certification permanently expire this year with zero regrets. If you can be anything you want, that includes the things we don’t tend to value as highly as a society. Not everybody is built for or wants the “respectable” careers.