Here's a little snippet of something I wrote (started writing) in November...@birdyoh thought I cooked so we'll see.
Prepare yourself! This ain't your grandmammies angst/whump fic. This here is high grade violence condensed into one embittered hero.
Under the cut: Death. Link is the Wolf in this one. And I'm not talking about the dog Twi can turn into. Someone is stabbed a gratuitous number of times so if you don't want to read about the darkness filling a man's eyes then stay away!
Harden your heart.
He’s panting. Hard and heavy. Breathless gasps leave bloodied lips. An ambush. Men wielding iron hurtled themselves upon their makeshift camp; nine pairs of empty hands their only resistance. Link is no greenhorn. The dagger clenched in a white knuckle grip speaks of a life wrought with the threat of a slit throat or gutted stomach. His opponent’s face is split into a crooked leer; dark eyes dart between Link’s own and his left hand. Link’s being vibrates in anticipation of the coming blow, his heart pounding its incessant song of battle and death. But Link is no greenhorn. A tempest of red and black meets his foe, his piercing blade driving itself into the soft and vulnerable. In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In. Link straddles his enemy now, sporting a grimace as his work is nearly finished. The villain’s gone slack below, skin tallow and waxy as crimson soaks into the ground, onto Link’s knees. Empty eyes gaze into his own, fixing him in place as quiet groans of pain and fear quickly subside into eternal silence.
Better him than me.
Gold-laden hands push against the earth, and with a shuddering breath, Link moves. Only a few foes remain, the rest making acquaintance with the soil. Link eyes his next, a lanky fellow brandishing a cruel dagger towards a bloodied Traveler. Sod flies as the thunder of boots coupled with the thunder of his own heart fills Link’s twitching ears. An exposed flank beckons his blade forth—thunk!
Sure legs disappear from under him as Link is sent sprawling into a heap. Confusion reigns supreme as his mind sifts through the sandstorm of stimuli competing for attention. He’s fallen. Breaths are coming short. A gilded hand grips the dirt in order to right himself and-ah. His right arm can’t bend up at the shoulder. The fight a distant memory, Link abandons his dagger and drags his left hand along his right side until his fingertips brush against them. Feathers. Fletching. Here Link rests, upon a bloodied field of battle nothing more than a simple hunter’s quarry. Confusion bleeds into panic as war-weary fingers prod at the gruesome reminder of the utter finality of death.
request: sometimes time likes to be alone underwater. with his iron boots and zora helmet, it's easy to just take a stroll at the bottom of a deep enough lake, away from the rest of the world. he did not expect, however, to find legend relaxing inside a small hole in the stone. Mer Legend.
Oh boy! I was vibing with this one for a while, I just wanted to make it perfect!
I'm pretty happy with what I made too, but man is it long!
(I hope this makes you happy, anon!)
When he and Malon have kids, he hopes they don't have this many.
Nayru knows he loves his boys, but they can get a bit much sometimes. They can get loud and overwhelming, and as a man who’s used to traveling primarily alone, with maybe a fairy trailing behind him or his trusted mount, it’s a bit overwhelming. He’s not used to being around people so much, Malon and Talon are his only consistent company and even then, the work they share means that often times it’s only him and his thoughts as he mucks, mends and tends things around the ranch.
Sometimes, when the boys get especially rowdy and playful, it’s just nice to get a moment of quiet to himself. Between Sky and Twilight he knows that nothing overly chaotic will go down, and he trusts the boys to keep each other in check.
So, when they come to the Pup’s Hyrule, their battle in this world over and most of their number restless as they wait for the next portal to arrive and whisk them away, Time allows his boys their space, and with a quick exchange with the only two he can trust to not burn something down (at least while the younger ones can still see them) he heads off into the forest to get a little space to himself.
Of course, he can’t really go far, not if he needs to hurry back, but he doesn’t really need to. His destination is Lake Hylia, which is only a short distance from their camp, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, and, when he gets there, he allows himself to actually breathe for once.
Wild, Warriors and Wind had been locked in a game of cards when last he left, the champion soundly beating the other two both at cribbage while Wars bemoans his poor luck, and Twilight and Sky were discussing wood carving with Hyrule, with the occasional comment from the smithy, who is only too happy to throw in something related every so often as he looks up from his book. That leaves himself and Legend, and he’s long since learned that the vet was one to disappear for his own space when possible.
He’s not overly worried. Legend has items and experience that far outmatch most of their group, and if he runs into trouble Time has little doubt that he’ll be able to get himself out of it to at least gather reinforcements, if not handle the issue by himself.
A deep breath of relief escapes him as the eldest of the heroes pulls a few items from his own bag. The boots are a familiar if not welcome weight as he slips out of his armor and dons the tunic and cap of the Zora, his breath bubbling softly as he steps into the lake before him with a contented sigh.
The cool water floods over the top of him, tugging at his hair and bubbling in his lungs, but it’s doesn’t burn the way that it should. He breathes easily beneath the rippling surface of Lake Hylia, the Zora tunic granting him freedom beneath the waves.
There is little sound beneath, only the muffled noise from above the surface, the flow of the water and-
Time’s ears prick forwards as a single blue eye turns to search the space around him.
Someone is singing.
It’s a haunting sort of melody, one that draws you in and makes you dazed, and Time finds himself stumbling over his own feet as he searches for the source. It is not a Cursed song, nor anything powerful from what he can recall, in fact, it’s almost familiar. It sounds similar to something he hears hummed about their camp at night while the boys take watch. He’d never been able to place which of the young heroes hummed the lilting melody, but he’s let it carry him off to sleep many a time before. Only this song, the one that twines about his head and whispers in his ears and makes his feet trek closer and closer to its source, this song is different, it’s haunted and Broken, and it is sung in a Voice.
Not a voice like most of those above the surface have, but a Voice like a fairy or spirit might have. One that pulls at your very soul and sings in your mind, un-hampered by wind or waves, able to carry across miles to be heard by those that it Sings too.
Heavy feet trod faster.
He’s under no spell, but he is a Link, and by now he has learned that all of their kind are blessed or cursed with courage and curiosity both, and to be without the latter is simply unthinkable for the young-at-heart hero. Something –the forest imp in him maybe- tells him to find the Voice, find the Singer.
He’s only made it part of the way across the lake, hasn’t even left the shoreline properly, when the song stops. Unease creeps over him as he looks around, alert and ready for trouble, only to see nothing but the peaceful stillness of the lake bottom around him.
There! His mind supplies as something pink flits in the corner of his vision, and he’s whipping around to come face to face with-
Long tangled hair drifts in the waves as glistening scales reflect the light pouring down through the waves. Too deep, too dark eyes stare at him in shock for a brief moment, and then-
The creature, the thing, is gone in an instant. Whipping away as it’s glimmer fades into the waves around him, speed no doubt granted by the brilliant tail of the thing sending it rocketing out of his grasp before he even has a chance to speak.
He tried to follow it. He does! But quite soon the adult part of his mind is reminding him how dangerous the thing could be, and that he still has his boys to return to back on the surface. It’s been exactly thirty-two minutes and thirteen seconds since he left them at their camp, and by now they usually would have sent someone to check and make sure that whatever member of their party had strayed off was alright.
Removing his boots is all it takes to float to the surface, despite the fact that he still holds the things in his hands, and it’s with no small amount of relief that he realizes that the bank of the lake is free of other heroes.
Time gathers his things together, wringing out his hair and clothes before returning to his normal gear and heading back to the camp.
Smiles and chuckles greet him as the young heroes tease.
“Go for a swim, Old Man?” Legend quirks a brow, staring up from his place by the fire.
Time doesn’t answer him, but he does shake his head violently enough to spray the younger heroes with water, earning shouts and shrieks from them as they try and shield themselves from the wet. “Seriously, Time?” Warriors moans, wiping lake water from his face. “What are you, a dog?”
Time smirks at the captain and, to everyone's surprise (which produces no small amount of delight for him), he barks.
“What sorts of people have you met in your adventures?” Sky asks a couple of days later, head cocked to the side as he watches his brothers. “You all talk about so many races, but I don’t think I've heard of most of them.”
“Well,” Wild smiles, there’s a glint in his gaze that isn’t quite mischief, but it’s a warning to be wary anyway, because they all know what a crack-pot their cook can be at times. “There’s Hylians, of course, and Sheikah, Yiga, Gerudo, Rito, Gorons, Zora and koroks! You’ve probably already met the Sheikah, since you mentioned knowing an Impa during your journey, and the Yiga are an offshoot of that group.”
Twilight blinks and stares, Warriors furrowing his brow as he two older heroes stare at the younger, but Wild seem entirely unaffected.
“Gerudo are a desert people. They’re really tall, and extremely strong! Most of their race have long red hair and slightly darker skin than the people around Hyrule. They are a society of all woman, with only one man being born to them every hundred years. They worship the goddess Din for the most part, and live out of an opulent city set in the desert where they specialize in the crafting of weapons and jewelry, and the farming of exotic plants.” The champion then proceeds to run down traits and knowledge about the other races, matter-of-factly, as if the details he is sharing are things that everyone from the surface knows.
“Wow.” Sky laughs as Wild finishes. “I had no idea.”
“There’s also the minish.” Four adds. “And the Wind Tribe, who are sky people, of course.”
Sky looks curious, but Four says nothing more, instead gesturing to the other heroes to share their thoughts, which they do.
“Terminans.” Time offers. “Very similar to Hylians.”
“Ordonians.” Twilight adds with a fond smile. No explanation is needed.
The others all nod along, but Legend rolls his eyes. “Humans, like, non-Hylian humans, Shifters,” The vet stares upwards with a light scowl as he ticks the races off of his fingers. “Technically they’re humans too, but Wild counted the Sheikah and Gerudo, so there’s also the Lorulians, Labrynninians, Holodrumese folks, Hytopians, Drablanders, Subrosians, Catalians-” Legend frowns. “I could swear there are more but I can’t really recall.”
Time, for whatever reason, he can’t really say why, cocks his head. “Any water people other than Zora?”
The vet snaps his fingers. “Mer-folk! Thank you, Time. I guess fae and animal folk count on that note.”
There’s a scoff and Warriors is leaning forwards with a smirk. “Fairies and animals, sure, but mer? Seriously, Legend? Have you even met a mer before?”
“Many times.” The veteran drawls, cocking a brow in the captain’s direction. “On multiple adventures. What about you, cap? Jealous you couldn’t snag one for your guild of brides?”
Warriors blusters about indignantly, earning laughter from the others as Legend smirks, but the man recovers quickly enough. “I do not have a guild of brides! That is- that is utterly disgusting!”
“Could have fooled me.” Legend teases, sipping some water from a flask.
“Give him a break.” Twilight snickers, shoving the vet playfully.
The unfortunate thing about Twilight’s shoves though is that the ranch hand doesn’t seem to know his own strength, and Legend is small enough that the light push is enough to send him scrabbling to not hit the ground. More laughter rings about their camp, but this time at the vet's expense, as Legend topples over into the dirt, spilling his drink and failing his arms as he goes.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Legend huffs, pulling himself back up and dusts off his clothes, scowling at the water spilled on him. “Great.”
“Oh, come on, you came back soaked to the skin earlier, what’s a bit of water going to hurt you, huh, vet?” Warriors ribs, smirking.
Legend shoots him a half-hearted glare.
“Legend,” Time starts slowly. “How would you describe the mer?”
The vet pauses, gaze resting maybe a moment too long as his hands as he brushes off the hem of his tunic. He’s already done so and there’s really no reason for him to do it again, but he does anyway. “What you’d expect.” He shrugs haltingly. “Hylian on top, fish beneath. Tail, long hair, that sort of thing.”
The old man hums. Legends ears twitch, nose shivering slightly as violet eyes flit over their group. “Care to expand on your sky people story, Four?”
“I’m good.” The smithy replies lazily.
Time would pass it off as a strange one-time thing, he would, but there are... other factors at play.
They’ve traveled to Four’s time, fighting off monsters and solving puzzles the same as they’ve always done. The boys are taking some downtime, playing hide and seek, and just like the last time, Time takes himself down to the river they’ve made camp ear and dons his Zora gear.
He isn’t expecting to see the creature, the mer, again, much less hear them singing -after all, this is a Hyrule far before his Pup’s- but there the creature is. It- or they- frolic in the water, chasing fish and singing softly. The tune is lighter than the last one he heard, a different song entirely, but there is no denying that it is the same mer.
Gold flecked, petal pink scales shimmer beneath the twisted lights that invade the water, hair of the same colors flowing in the current as long fingers, tipped with pointed claws, reach out to swipe at the fish swimming wildly away. They don’t catch anything, but Time hears it giggle anyways, the tune of its voice bubbling in merriment as it rolls like and otter and turns to explore some other part of the river bed.
The cursed curiosity of a hero niggles in Time’s mind. How is the same mer from before in this timeline, ages before Twilight would even be born? And why do they play and explore as if they’ve never seen this river bed before in their life?
Long claws pull through sand, and although their hair blocks their face from his view, he can still hear the warble of delight as the creature removes something sparkling and bright from the river bed. The mer floats in place, turning the item over in their hands curiously before whisking it out of sight and returning to their search.
A mer that likes treasure, huh? Why is he unsurprised?
His own soft laugh startles them, and for a half of a moment, golden ringed, violet eyes, wide and bright and full of shock, meet his own.
The mer is gone before he can make a move.
He asks Legend about it the next day. As they travel along the path towards the nearest town, Time falls back to ask the vet more about mer.
“Do mer like treasure?”
Legend starts, eyes wide as they meet his own, and something in the back of his mind is nagging him that the look in the vet’s eyes is somehow familiar. “What?”
“Do mer like treasure?” He repeats himself.
Legend stares at him, blinking slowly as they continue along the path, but eventually the vet shakes his head and answers. “Depends on the mer. They’re people too, Time, they can have varying interests and hobbies. There is no standard for mer. None.”
“Don’t they all swim at least?”
Legend’s gaze is flat. “There are disabled Hylians aren’t there? Not all Hylians can walk, and not Mer can swim. Some just choose not to because they don’t like it!”
Time frowns. How does the vet know so much about mer culture? “How do you know this?”
The vet shrugs, eyes darting away. “I’ve been a lot of places and met a lot of people. Mer are no exception.”
“I thought you hated swimming and the water?” Wind breaks in, falling back to join the two of them with an odd look on his face. He looks like a puppy and it’s killing Time not to ruffle the kid’s hair.
“Didn’t always.” Legend returns, smiling wryly down at the sailor. “But enough of that. The real question here is if you’ve ever met one, sailor.”
“A mer?” Wind furrows his brow, looking away with a soft sigh. “The water in my world isn’t safe for the people who lived in it. There’s hardly even any fish in most places. The Zora in my time had to adapt to the air instead in order to survive.”
Awkward silence falls over them, the vet looking guilty for a half a moment before he settles a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “The goddesses aren’t always fair, Maliit, it’s not your fault.
Time hums his agreement, heart aching for yet another young hero and a world that suffered for Time’s failure to have properly saved it.
He sees the mer again. Not just when he’s in the water himself, but when he’s keeping watch during the night or on occasion when he goes fishing with Twilight. The Pup says nothing about seeing gold and pink beneath the water, but Time finds himself watching it all the same.
It darts beneath the dock they’re fishing on one time, and when Twilight’s line gets a tug, the rancher pulls it up only to find the one of his boots dangling from the other end.
Time can’t help it, he laughs.
So, this mer is a prankster, huh?
He takes to seeking them out, trying to catch their attention or try to talk to them, but nothing works. The minute that gold and violet eyes meet his own, petal pink scales flick deftly in the waves and the mer is swimming away.
But Time isn’t dumb.
He knows that the same mer cannot reasonably exist across all of time, not with all the changes that come to the world with each hero. He knows that this being is somehow following them, and h’s got a rather good idea exactly how it’s happening.
It’s a long shot, but he knows for a fact that Legend is always gone from camp before he sees the creature, and enough times startling the vet when asking about mer has taught him that the expressions between the two are the same. All he knows on the mer’s face is shock, but the vet’s eyes glimmer the same shade of violet, even if they are different in size and shape, and the petal pink hair that the vet comes out of the forest with one evening after their group was separated is uncannily similar to the shade of the mer.
They’ve made camp again, and rather than climbing into the water when he catches a moment alone, Time settles on the shore, not in the mood to be in the water but in need of its calming song. The air has been tense the past few days, and Time welcomes a brief moment to relax, forcing himself not to think of the gaping wound in his Pup’s side or the ragged breath that wheezes between the rancher’s lips.
Twilight will be fine, he reminds himself. Hyrule and Warriors had worked together to tend the wound and while it would definitely leave a scar, the danger of losing their beloved friend and brother (and maybe son?) is not so high anymore.
He welcomes a free breath, away from the hurt gazes of his boys as they try and process that their beloved canine friend and the rancher are one and the same. A chance to think without having to stop those who were out of the know from bombarding those who were in it with questions.
He’s glad to be free of the questions himself.
Legend seems to be too, if the glint of pink beneath the waves is to be believed.
He doesn’t approach this time, doesn’t try entering the water to speak. He’s tired and he wants his spae, and he imagines Legend would like his own too. So, instead, he sits on the bank, feet trailing in the water and ocarina on his lips as he plays softly.
The tune is a sweet one, one he’d written himself that lilts and dips softly, very nearly perfect for a dance, but far more suited to a night by a fire or watching the sunset. And sunset it is, fading light stretching out across the water, glinting of the surface and reflecting off of gold and pink-
He stops, eye wide as he turns towards the flash in his vision.
Gold and violet stare back at him, framed in curling pink as Legend freeze half-way through pulling on his tunic again.
Gold fades just as the scales dissapear and leave the vet siting on the shore, tunic still bunched around his shoudlers and violet eyes wide with fear as he regards his leader.
“I won’t tell.” Time forces, turning away his gaze and returning his focus to the instrument in his hand. He doesn’t play, but he doesn’t look up either.
“It’s an item.” Legend forces, strained. His voice is still tainted with whatever power had shifted him between forms, and it’s sweeter and more melodious than normal. “I found it on my third adventure. Got cursed.”
“Like the rancher?” Time hums softly, not having to look up to know that Legend is shifting nervously, foot tapping madly at the ground beneath him.
“Yeah.” Legend huffs.
“Okay.” And he does look up them, calm and as open as he can make himself seem as he meets the vet’s gaze.
“Just okay?” One brow cocks as Legend crosses his arms.
“Just okay. It’s your secret, Legend. I can’t change what I’ve seen, but I won’t tell the others either.”
Legend nods, wary bit willing to accept the words, if only for now. “If you say so.”
They’re on their way back to camp, Legend carrying an armload of fish and Time carrying both of their bags when the vet stops and glares at him. “I don’t want to hear any jokes, alright? I get enough of those from Twilight and Sky.”
“They know?” The old man tilts his head in question.
Legend flushes, ducking his head and setting off again at a speed some might label a scurry. “No. Hurry up, these fish are gonna rot!”
Waves lap around his head and it’s all Time can do to break the surface, coughing and hacking as he struggles to remain above the water.
The portal had come at the worst time ever, and no one had been ready to be dropped into the center of the ocean.
Lightning crackles overhead as waves swirl and crash about him. The ocean rages and Time is again reminded how small Hylian’s are in the face of Mother Earth herself.
“Boys!” The shout rasps from his throat as he spins to look about, praying to every deity he knows that he’ll find the rest of them safe and sound, or at the very least together. Never mind that Twilight still can’t walk, much less swim. Never mind the smithy’s shattered arm and Wild’s fear of the water. He can’t panic about those right now, he has to find them!
“Over here!” Sky’s voice answers him. The Chosen Hero clings to the shivering form of the smithy, both are soaked and trembling, but they’re managing to stay above the waves.
“My Hyrule!” Wind calls out as Time strikes out towards them, and the sailor continues once he’s close enough to see that at least five of his boys are safe. “We’re near land,” Wind nods in a random direction and Time wonders briefly how the sailor even knows that. “It could be a challenge in these waves, but we can make it. Have you seen the others?”
Hyrule looks up at him hopefully, the water-logged traveler fighting madly to stay above the water but succeeding despite the waves. Time reminds himself to help the boy learn to swim more effectively later, and more importantly how to properly tread water, but for now he focuses on answering Wind. “You're the firsts. We’ll have to hope the others are alright, getting y’all to safety is my first concern.
“But Wild!” Hyrule splutters, choking on some water as Time swims over to give the traveler someone to cling to. Freezing fingers latch ahold of his armor as teeth chatter, the waves are neither kind nor warm and with their health as it is he’s certain someone is going to end up with a cold when this is all over. “And Twilight! A-and Legend and Wars! They’re out there somewhere!”
“We have to hope Legend and Warriors can elp the other two. We can’t do them any good if we’re fighting to stay above ourselves.” He tries to same calm, but his own mind and heart scream with the same message that Hyrule’s voice does, and its all he can do to push it down.
Thunder rolls overhead and waves beneath as they push off towards the shore, each of the older heroes aiding a younger one as Wind guides them all towrads the supposed island.
Time hs never been so relieved to see sand in his life, and as Hyrule pulls himself up the bach and Wind helps Sky to settle Four, Time can only pray that he’ll find his way back again. “I’m going to look for the otehrs. Wind, stay and help Sky.” The sailor looks as if he wants to hesitate, but he knows better than anyone how a small body can be lost to the waves much easier than an adult. “Make a fire, warm up as best you can. Keep an eyes out. I’ll come back if- when I find the others.”
He stops only to shed his armor and don his Zora gear, but a single dive beneath the water is enough to tell him that it’s for naught. Wind wasn’t joking about his water being toxic, and a single breath of the stuff leaves Time heaving as soon as he breaks the surface.
His chances of finding the boys have lowered considerably.
Nayru above, don’t let anyone have sunk beneath!
Time swims for all he is worth, pushing past weariness as he battles each and every wave. And he’s just beginning to lose hope when he catches sight of something silver reflecting in the water as lighting flashes above.
“Time!”
Blue whips around to meet its twins as Warriors comes to swim beside him. “Have you found any of the others?”
“Wind, Sky, Hyrule and Four.” he breathes back. “You?”
The captian looks rueful but nods to his side. “Legend.”
Time can’t help but start as Legend’s eyes peek above the surface. Golden and violet are glassy in the pale ace of the vet, but they’re there and that means that Legend is alive.
“I’ve officially met my first mer.” Warriors sighs, but there’s worry in the captains voice and face both.
“Split up.” Legend’s voice rasps, and there none of the melodic song that Time is used to hearing from this form of the vet.
Legend is pale, far too pale.
“What’s-”
“Wind’s world.” Warriors tells him. “Water here is toxic.”
The water is toxic. The water, which mer have to breath to stay alive, is toxic.
Time’s gaze shoots to the vet but there’s only a flick of gold and pink as he disappears beneath the waves. Warriors groans. “He keeps doing that! I swear, I have no way of knowing if he’s even still there, but he still insists on disappearing like the little shit he is.”
Usually, Time would scold his brother for such a tone, but he knows that Warriors is just sacred. He’s terrified, and it leaks into his voice and his actions, and the only way that the soldier knows how to hide the fear is by biting back with venom, not dissimilar to the vet’s own actions.
They swim together, searching and calling out for the two missing heroes. Hope is beginning to fade and Time can feel a gnawing fear eating away at his heart as he thinks of the gaping wound in his Pup’s side and the likelihood that Twilight would even be able to swim with it.
His pup’s chances aren’t high.
“Look!” Warriors shouts over the storm, jerking him from his thoughts as his eyes follow the captain’s pointing hand.
Pink bobs on the surface, backed by bedraggled and soaked black fur as Legend hauls Twilight’s limp form through the water.
“Pup!”
He’s taking the lad from Legend as soon as they’re in reach, and Legend seems to sag in relief as the weight is removed from his shoulder. “Was with Wild. Bring him to-” The vet wheezes and ducks beneath the water for a moment, coming up with a pained expression on his face. “Bring to shore. I’ll get Wild.” He gives them no time to respond, tail flicking as he disappears beneath the waves again.
Time and Warriors exchange a glance and head back to shore, supporting the weight of the rancher between them.
Wind and Sky have managed to get a virtual bonfire going on the shore, and the sailor has laid what blankets and bed-rolls he’s found of their equipment in front of it, allowing their dampened things to ry as he and the other three heroes bundle together for warmth.
It’s with a cheer that they al; greet Time and Warriors as the two emerge from the ocean, and Time can’t help but smile a bit in relief at seeing them all safe again. Only a little longer and Legend will be back with Wild, and then he can rest easy knowing they’re all out of the storm.
Rain still patters against already soaked skin and cloth, but with the fire flickering before them Time can’t bring himself to care over much.
Hyrule’s fingers shiver as they slide over the wound in Twilight’s side, cleansing it from the poisonous water that has soaked into the bandages, and while Twilight grits his teeth and winces, he’s at least conscious enough to do so, and that alone brings some peace to the others.
Warriors informs the others of the whereabouts of their two missing brothers, and Time helps to settle Twilight on one of the warming bedrolls. It made still be wet, but it’s better than getting sand in the pup’s wound.
They wait in tense silence, bundled together to share heat as nervous gazes watch the shore. Wind hasn’t stopped muttering under his breath and Four isn’t doing much better with his half formed sentences and steady murmurs.
It’s only when Wild’s golden hair can be seen on the shore that they all release a breath of air.
Cornflower blue is wide and glazed, likely from shock, but it doesn’t stop the champion from reaching back into the waves to pull out his companion.
Legend is a mess.
The veteran gasps and splutters for breath once he’s free, skin a sickly shade of white and eyes just as glazes as Wild's own as the two clings to each other, and when the two stand together Legend is leaning heavily against the shaking champion, and it’s only through sheer luck that Time and Sky get there in time to catch them before the duo collapses back into the waves.
Wild curls against Time’s chest, fingers shaking and eyes blank as the man carries him back to the fire. Legend doesn’t even stir, lying limp in Sky’s hold as the Skyloftian bustles back to join the other heroes.
Nothing is said about the glistening tail that fades into legs once Legend is warmed and dried, and even if anyone had dared the stern gaze of the first of their number would have been enough to silence them.
Violet blinks hazy and distant beneath the warmed fabric of Sky’s sailcloth, but they are all safe. They are all safe and they are alive.
“Thanks to Legend.” Wild whispers when he comes back, head resting against Times collar bone. “Without him I would have never got Twi back to shore.”
“Three cheers for the vet.” Wars forces a smile, and while the cheers are heartfelt and thankful, they do nothing to lighten the mood.
Whumptober Day 7 - Numbness/Blindness/Helplessness
It's late, by a lot. But my computer shut down a week ago so I think I have a reasonable excuse for that. This is a companion piece to A Royally Awful Prank, and describes Legend's half of the prank. You do not need to read that to enjoy the whump, but it would definitely provide context for why everything is happening here.
He stumbles as he walks. It’s purposeful, but Sky and Hyrule fuss with every trip or wheeze of breath, and he can hear the others murmuring in concern.
Good, he wants them to worry, he wants them to be distracted and fussy, and he wants them to be upset later, but first he has to play up his part. Fable will handle the most of this, let him rest, let him watch, but he has to get them to Fable first, and play up his ‘ailment’ as much as possible so she has something to build off of.
Usually, Legend isn’t one for pranks, much less those of the revenge sort. They’re tedious and, well, he always struggled with where the lines were drawn. What counts as going too far? What are the circumstances of that line? Obviously killing and maiming were out of the question, and he didn’t really want to hurt the others, no matter how stupid they’d been, but he’s not sure where here would be going too far.
Letting them think they’ve hurt him should be fine though, the worst that will happen is that someone bursts into tears or thinks that he’s actually dead or something and that they’ve killed him, but Fable will be there to stop any of that. She’ll sweep in like the elegant princess she can be on good days, and be worried and confused as she looks at them, and then she’ll turn to him, see that he is a painting on the wall, and she will panic.
The vet snorts, pretending to cough into his sleeve violently even as Sky keeps trying to get him to slow down to otherwise help him. Hyrule reaches out as if to pat his shoulder, but the kid pulls back last moment, hesitation and shame on his features while he lets Sky handle things.
He almost feels bad that he’s going to make the kid feel worse, but it was just like Uncle used to tell him; you have to nip a bad thing in the bud and stop it from spreading throughout the orchard. The man had been talking about real buds and branches and bad trees, but that doesn’t stop it from holding true now; he needs to nip this sort of misdeed in the bud and stop the others from prying and disregarding privacy.
Gnarled thumbs run over the cracked instrument in his hands as he grits his teeth. To the others, they might think he’s in pain, and as they finally reach the castle wall, he takes a moment to lean against it, wheezing softly while the others murmur and fuss behind him. No one’s said anything beyond a gentle reminder from Hyrule that they don’t need to push forwards if he’s not well, but he knows how he acts, and while he’s not proud of it, he knows that any injury he has that doesn’t bleed will get ignored as long as he can get away with. Blood? He's cleaning it away as soon as possible, more often than not biting his tongue in disgust and trying not to smell the stuff or look too hard at it. Other injuries though, they could wait. It didn’t really matter if he was sore when there was a monster to face, and it’s not like he could count on there being a day when something wouldn’t be hurting.
As is, he knows pain well, like an annoying sidekick that insisted on tagging along after he started adventuring and wouldn’t go away no matter what he shoved at it. That said, he knows how to make his pain look real, and the distress he can feel radiating off of his team is a sure sign that they believe every second of it.
The passage he’s used since forever it still there, and even though the gazes of the others change from worried to confused as he pulls himself up the ivy towards the top of the castle wall, he eventually convinces them to climb up after. Time stares at the stuff distrustfully, but once Four points out the stealthily woven ladder hidden and twisted amid the vines, the old man follows. It’s an effective trick, one that’s lasted years and several invasions; unless you know there’s a ladder, the ivy looks too dangerous to risk climbing, and it’s that exactly that he and Fable had been hoping for when constructing a path for him to visit by.
The looks he gets as they emerge into the castle garden and then enter a small side door, rather than one of the large ones, are just as annoying as he’d thought they would be. Hes too busy pretending to be struggling to really address the problem though, and as they walk down the hall, he makes sure to stumble extra hard over his own feet, only barely catching himself when Hyrule’s fingers brush his shoulders in an effort to grab him. He sighs as he rights himself, tired and in pain and done with the behavior of his brothers, both in act and in reality, and he leans against the wall in an exhausted manner.
He’s careful as he lets the ocarina drop from his hands, and he lets it tumble down his leg until it reaches the floor before he allows the power in his bracelet to pull him fully into the wall, a sharp shriek sounding as he does so.
No one can hear him anymore when he’s merged with the wall, even if what they say and do is as clear to him as if he was standing with them, and it’s his intention to just close his mouth the moment he’s one with the stone and relax in the second dimensional world until Fable ‘breaks his curse’. Once the others have repented and vocally admitted where they were wrong, she’ll ‘free him from being cursed’. It’s a good plan, he thinks. No one will be hurt, but as long as they think that by damaging his things that they trapped him in the wall, unable to escape, they’ll hopefully think twice before touching his shit again. And until the words have been spoken, his plan is to just hold still and watch his sister act. He’d doze or relax, but his painted form will reflect what he’s doing, and he’s not capable of passing out or sleeping in this dimension.
That’s his intent, to watch and wait, to close his mouth and hold still, but the moment his hand is sinking into the wall, pulled by the powers of Ravio’s bracelet, the scream on his lips stops being fake as an agonizing pain shoots up his arm. He pulls against it., tries to pull away from the wall, digging in his heels as the stabbing sensation travels up the length of his arm to dig at his chest and pull him in. Like a snake consuming its prey, the force of the bracelet closes its teeth on him and pulls him in, pulls him flat into a world that’s darker than he remembers, one that’s more distorted than he remembers, and one where the shouts and screams of the hall outside are muffled behind the sound of his own screams.
There are no words to his panic, only the instinct to flee, to turn the other way and escape the pain that digs into him from every direction, as if someone was destroying his painted form in the world outside, ripping him to sheds slowly and savoring every second. He can almost hear Yuga’s laugh, almost see Ganon’s teeth, feel the blade of the Four Sword slashing across his shoulders and Veran’s claws over his cheek. The life is being sucked out of him, Onox is standing over him with his claws extended and Din is in danger and-
“Leg..d! L...end! ...ou...ear....s?!?” He thinks it might be the captain’s voice that calls out to him, he’s not sure, but he latches onto the sound, trying to use it to pull himself back into the world where his lungs aren’t heaving for air and his own screams of agony aren’t filling his ears.
There are other voices, words being called, Fable’s high lilt joining in, but he’s too busy trying to free himself. Never mind their prank! Never mind teaching the others a lesson! The moment he pulls free he’s just going to forgive whomever it is who catches him, because if this keeps up any longer, he’s not going to be able to stand when he breaks free.
When. Not if. He’s going to break free. He has to.
He tries forcing his will into the bracelet, tries to activate it and tell it to send him back into the dimension where Fable’s sobs aren’t drowned out by everything around him.
It’s like there’s a weight on him, something pushing him against the wall, pinning his hand in place so that even if he tries to move, to shift the slightest inch, he’s still frozen in place, unable to do anything, say anything, or even see. He can’t see his own fingers in front of his face, and the faces of the others on their side of the wall should be there. But they aren’t. There are no heroes where he can see them, and only Fable’s voice rings out over the hall beyond, voice fading as the rushing in his ears increases and the screams that echo all around him only continue to make it worse.
He’s fighting it, pushing against the weight that settles over him and pins him in place. He tries to envision the hall, tries to imagine the faces of those outside, tries to focus on the tremble in his sister’s voice and the grating rumble of Time’s stern one. He tries to think, tries to listen, tries to do anything to escape, even if only in his head, but it only grows, the pain building up within and without and ripping him apart molecule by molecule. He’s past his pain threshold. He’s still screaming, still begging the others for help as tears prick at his eyes and his heart trembles.
He passed his pain threshold ages ago, and were he anywhere else he would have fainted dead away, or even dead, ages back. But he can’t pass out in painting from, and he can’t sleep here either; he’s tried. He’s trapped instead, trapped with his whole body being ripped apart and sewed back together while the stiches are twisted and pulled tight, only to be cut again with another sweep of power from the cursed ornament on his arm. His arm that should have been numb by now, but which instead continues to feel everything that throbs through him and through to his chest, wrapping around and squeezing ribs and heart as the sensation of being stabbed repeats, something pressing closer and closer to his center while his throat runs more and more raw.
He’s lost all connection to the world by the time Ravio is playing the repaired Ocarina, He’s faded into his own mind to only what shoots through him and the force that crushes him ever flatter. For a brief moment, Fable’s voice warbles through the darkness, incomprehensible, but hers, and for the briefest of moments the pain fades as something swipes over him only to pull back and allow a fresh wave to wash over him. There’s nothing he can do about it though. He doesn’t even know how long he’s been here, doesn’t know if it’s been minutes of hours or even days, time is nothing and only darkness and muffled sounds can be sensed beyond the raw screams that tear from his aching throat and the white pain that flashes through him like poison and tears across his chest like claws, Ganon’s claws, digging in to throw him to the side, only to swipe clean through as his body fails to move in response.
Fable’s voice raises into a shriek, there’s a murmuring beyond the veil that holds him into this dimension, and then the world around him trembles, the claws digging deeper and the pressure on his arm increasing closing tight around him like the bracelet itself is being melted down in Four’s forge, being shrunk until it’s branding his flesh and burning through the skin and all the way down to the very bone, pressing, pressing, pressing-
And then there’s something else.
A hand is closing around his, gloved fingers closing around the ones that have lain still and frozen for Nayru knows how long, and he’s being pulled. He has no power here, no control, and even if he’d wanted to fight back, he’s still unable to move beyond how the hand pulls him.
Light floods his vision, and the pressure around him fades. There are no claws, no teeth, Veran’s cackles and Ganon’s growls have died away into the worried murmur that quickly fades to nothing. Blackness swallows him up again, even as the world fades once more, and even though he fights against it, the pain doesn’t return. It’s fading, along with all else, and when he realizes that he pushes himself into it with a final breath.
Legend’s body falls still, white and breathless on the floor of the castle halls, and when Hyrule’s gentle hands pull him up again, the vet is no longer breathing, heart stuttering to a stop in his chest while the heroes panic and his sister sobs. The vet has already faded, and the sobs of his brothers will not, and do not, wake him.
