↳ SKIN OF THUNDER
Simon 'Ghost' Riley x fem!Reader
Simon Riley lives like a storm on the edge of breaking. But then there’s you. You pull at him like the soft drip of rain. And in the stillness between you, Ghost begins to realize that you are the calm he never knew he needed, an unexpected refuge in the tempest that has always defined him.
01. Where Silence Blooms
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
02. Veins Of Longing
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
03. To Be Known
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
04. Petals Bite Back
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
05. Where Butterflies Go To Die
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
06. The Ship Of Theseus
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
07. Nostos And The Knife
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
08. The Body Is A Burden Until It's Touched
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
09. Soft Targets
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
10. Strawberries Left To Decay
↳ (part 1) (part 2)
stormy.... please........ i NEED to know more........ i will give u anything...........
“There are parts that are missing. I don’t remember everything.” Champion looked away from him. “I remember some of what it was like living in Termina. I remember food, but I don’t remember how to cook. I remember feeling like…”
Champion’s brow tensed, his eyes unfocused as he struggled for words. Twilight’s shaking hands gripped the console, helping him remain upright.
“I don’t remember everything,” Champion said, his bright blue eyes suddenly burning into Twilight’s, “but I remember you.”
you ever think about how if they never figured out the shrine of resurrection, just leaving link’s body behind, the sheikah taking zelda to a safe place, promising they’ll come back to get him.
they never do.
zelda trains her power, while calamity ganon looms over hyrule. eventually one day she seals him away forever. she starts a family.
link’s body is left there, bloody, bruised, dirty. bugs crawling over him, they don’t do much though. eventually, dirt gets spread over him. he’s not fully covered, just smatterings. some sorts of seed got spread there. one over his heart. the birds never do pick at his body. just the gentleness of time spreading dirt over his body. no one checks that field. they’re scared of the guardians still lurking in it.
eventually, that seed over his heart blooms—it’s a beautiful flower, one cool in color, glowing in moonlight. one of the very few on that field.
after zelda seals calamity ganon away, she returns. they’ve discovered more about the sheikah tech, she wants to see if she can reuse the guardians for good again. eventually, she stumbles upon a flower. her favorite flower, in fact. and then her heart skips a beat. she looks around, it’s changed but she can tell it’s the same place. her heart drops, sobbing. she doesn’t know how, but she can just tell, that in this mound of earth, lies link’s body. and in the place of her favorite flower, she just knows that it follows to his still heart.
she immediately has a rock engraved and placed at the head. the flower is not to be removed.
My first fanfic! I wanted to start out with a fluffy (and maybe a little crack-y?) oneshot featuring the lu boys. Link to the AO3 coming once my account gets approved later this week!
✨Magical Placeholder for Title Until I Figure It Out✨
Warriors stared down the strategy map, rubbing the pebble that represented him between his fingers. He’d battled unlikely odds before, but this was a whole new level of hopeless.
He had to try. For the sake of his brothers, he had to try.
“Captain?” Sky asked, fiddling with his sailcloth. “Are you sure we shouldn’t get the old man?”
“He’s compromised. Always has been for missions like this, he’s just better at hiding it now. We’re certain Hyrule can’t swim?”
“He shrieked when Wild went waist deep into the lake a few months ago,” Four said from Warriors’s other side. “I don’t think anyone in Hyrule’s world knows how to swim.”
That complicated things. Hyrule would be one of the most resistant to their plan, and they couldn’t just throw him in. Warriors considered using Legend to coax Hyrule into the water, but the veteran seemed to have a thing against water. Probably another secret. Legend seemed to have a lot of those.
Warriors rubbed between his brows. He sighed and looked up at the pine trees surrounding their campsite. He’d convinced everyone except Sky and Four—the only Heroes who would accept his desperate plan—to forage or collect firewood elsewhere. That had been an hour ago. They were out of time for finding other solutions.
“All right,” he said. “We’ll have to keep Hyrule in the shallows, then. Four?”
Four grinned, teeth glinting in the sunlight.
“Way ahead of you, Captain.”
Warriors nodded and turned to Sky. The Chosen Hero had already grabbed his gust bellows and gave him a grim nod.
“Good,” Warriors said. “There’s just one other part of our problem to solve.”
He placed his own pebble next to the river on the map and picked up the miniature wolf Sky had carved the other day.
“Not it,” Four and Sky said at the same time.
“I didn’t even—” Warriors turned from the map. Both his brothers had their fingers on their noses. The captain huffed.
“Fine. I’ll wrestle the wolf. But you both are on laundry duty for this.”
“Small price to pay,” Four said.
“Yeah, I like my fingers right where they are.” Sky drummed his digits on the bellows with an apologetic smile. Warriors shook his head.
“Just get into position. Remember, quick and precise. We can’t afford mistakes.”
Four nodded. Coming from anyone else, Sky’s salute would have been sarcastic, but Warriors knew his fellow knight meant it. They both left, and the operation was on. Warriors took a deep breath, rolled up the map, and got his supplies from his pack.
He crept to the stream near their campsite, past the spot where Four had laid out everyone’s armor under the guise of repairing it later tonight. Good. Nothing would rust this way.
He crouched behind a bush near the shore and laid out his supplies. Three brushes for different hair textures, a pile of rags, a larger pile of fluffy towels, and the largest bottle of soap he’d ever seen. They hadn’t stayed in his world long enough to drag everyone to a bathhouse last week, but at least he’d had time to stock up. He lined up a smaller bottle of conditioner next to the brushes. Far as he knew, he’d be the only one interested in it.
A shout echoed across the forest. Phase One had begun.
Warriors grabbed the soap and squeezed a thick thread into the almost-still water. He wished he had one of Wild’s Korok leaves to stir, but a large stick he found near shore would have to do. He frothed the soap until a thick layer of foam sat on the water. Good thing Sky had offered to build a dam downstream so the soap wouldn’t wash away.
The lavender and eucalyptus soap floated into Warriors’s nose, making him relax. Another shout—no, that was a howl—jerked him into action. Four’s part of the plan must have worked. How the smithy knew what would provoke Twilight into transforming, Warriors had no idea. He didn’t want to know. Plausible deniability in case Twilight got mad. Warriors shuddered and returned to the bush.
Another howl. Footsteps racing.
Closer.
Closer.
Wheezing, Sky tore into the clearing. He spotted Warriors, nodded, and lined up with his back to a tree. Sky pointed his gust bellows at the water. No one approaching the stream would see him.
“Cheatin’ bilge rat!” Wind sprinted into the clearing after Sky, Legend and Hyrule just behind. “You’re shark bai—”
Sky turned on his gust bellows.
Wind screeched and flailed headfirst into the stream. Hyrule tumbled after him. Legend figured out what was going on and activated his pegasus boots, running against the gust. Sky’s bellows blew stronger. Legend lost his footing and splashed into the stream.
Warriors covered his mouth to hold back a snicker.
Three heads popped up from the water. Hyrule looked panicked. Legend looked torn between holding up Hyrule and dragging Sky in with them. Wind looked murderous.
The sailor lunged up to grab Sky’s ankle, but Sky gusted until Wind fell back into the stream.
“You yellow-bellied, lily-livered, octo-brained seagull splat!” Wind yelled, but Warriors could hear him covering up a laugh.
“I have no idea what any of those words mean,” Sky said with a grin and an extra puff of air in Wind’s face.
Wind sucked in a breath, probably to ‘educate’ Sky. Another howl and a high-pitched, unheroic scream cut him off.
“Sky!”
Four tore into view and tossed Wild’s Sheikah Slate to Sky before jumping into the water. Wild burst from the bushes and dove after Four with a splash. Wolfie raced after them, skidding to a stop before the shore. He took a step back and looked around.
Come on, Twilight. Just a little closer.
Four burst above the surface, only for Wild to tackle him deeper into the stream. Warriors had only seen that look on Wild’s face once—right before disintegrating the iron knuckle that had downed Twilight.
Maybe Warriors had miscalculated his plan.
“Wild! Wild, stop—” Four spluttered, treading water while stopping Wild from dragging him to the bottom. “The Slate’s fine. Sky has it, look.”
Sky flinched as Wild turned his glare onto him, but the Chosen Hero waved the Sheikah Slate to prove Four’s point. Grumbling, Wild swam back to the edge and made grabby hands for his prized item.
“Give it.”
Sky held the Slate out of reach, putting it at the base of a tree.
“You can have it back after your bath. The Captain can’t stand our smell anymore.”
Caught in the moment, Warriors stood up from his hiding place to argue how that wasn’t what he’d said—he’d thought it, but hadn’t said it—before realizing he’d blown his cover. Warriors caught Wolfie’s eye. Wolfie bolted.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Warriors lunged for Wolfie and shoved his shapeshifting brother toward the water. Wolfie stumbled, but didn’t fall in.
How was Twilight heavier in this form?
A burst of wind from Sky pounded against Warriors’s back, pushing the wrestling captain and wolf closer to the stream. Wolfie dug in his claws and growled. Warriors pushed against the wretched-smelling mound of dog with all his strength, but Wolfie didn’t budge.
A splash was all the warning he got before five sets of hands shot out of the water, grabbed Wolfie, and pulled him in. Warriors sailed through the air and hit the stream, water and bubbles shooting up his nose. He broke the surface, coughing and spluttering. Eucalyptus burnedthrough his sinuses.
When he could finally see and breathe again, he cackled at the sight in front of him.
Wolfie squirmed as Wild and Legend kept him from swimming to shore. A cloud of mud surrounded the rest of the Heroes, mostly coming from the wolf. Wind scrubbed soap into the fur. Four rubbed Wolfie’s paws, freeing wads of muck jammed between the pads. Hyrule clung to Wolfie’s back and made bubble hats for the wolf.
Warriors had never seen the mighty beast so undignified.
Wolfie whimpered. A chime sounded and black flecks started to swarm around him.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Legend bopped Wolfie on the nose. The black flecks disappeared, and Wolfie growled. Hyrule added a pompom to Wolfie’s bubble hat. “Your smell’s going to attract monsters if you don’t clean up this version of yourself. Honestly, your fur crackles.”
“And it reduces the risk of us getting sick,” Warriors said as he waded toward the group. He shot a dirty look at Sky, dry and giggling on the shore. “Which is the real reason I organized this.”
“Did you have to throw us in?” Wild asked.
Warriors shrugged and rubbed soap into Wild’s hair. If his brothers were going to focus solely on scrubbing Twilight, Warriors could make sure everyone else got clean, too. Wild melted under the touch and almost lost hold of Wolfie.
“We needed to do laundry, too. This hits two ChuChus with one arrow. Besides, would you have taken a bath if I’d asked nicely?”
Wild shook his head, but caught sight of something on shore and grinned. Warriors followed his gaze and felt his eyes grow wide.
Time loomed behind Sky, who hadn’t noticed him yet. Sky squeaked as Time picked him up and hurled him at the other Heroes. All eight of them plunged under, legs, arms, and one tail tangling together. They finally surfaced, Hyrule still using Wolfie as a raft. Everyone piled on Sky to make sure he got as drenched as the rest of them.
“Stop,” Sky said between giggling and failing to push them away. “That—that tickles!”
Which was the worst thing to tell a group of Links, Warriors thought. Chaos and mayhem were vital parts of the Hero’s Spirit. Even Warriors splashed suds on Sky after that comment. After all, Sky had a great laugh.
A shadow blocked out the sun, too sudden and dark to be a cloud. Warriors looked up.
Oh.
Oh, no.
He’d definitely miscalculated.
Time cannonballed straight for them.
Later that night, while they dried off and teased each other over dinner, Warriors admitted he screamed like a little girl. If only because his seven other brothers did the exact same thing.
Giggling, the psychopath hugged tight the girl fucked in the head as she bounced on her heels.
Who was he to not realize that the darling was as crazy as he was? And how wonderful she was too. As many times as he had held her and ripped apart the monsters of men eying her on the streets, she just looked scared. But those trembles were anything but fear. Excitement, almost. A powerful lust driven by the idea of paying her lovely kidnapper back. She’d do anything for him, but for the longest time she had to act positively horrified.
Sometimes she was.
Not now, though. Now her nails dug into her boyfriend’s back as she held back her snickers of glee. They both had no idea what was coming for them.
Mini story -- Time tries to get the rest of the Chain up and ready to travel for the day but the rest of the Chain says no.
Time strode in to the stable of sleeping heroes, surprised to see that none of them were up despite the fact that the sun was already starting to rise.
"Time to get up," He announced. "We got a long day of travel ahead of us." Several heroes groaned and rolled over in response. Time made his bed, collected his bathing items and went down to the lakeside to wash up.
The plan was to start heading toward Death Mountain to deal with some of the monster camps springing up in the Gorons' mines. They hoped to make it to Foothill stable at least but ideally as far up towards Goron city as daylight would allow.
Time washed up, changed clothes, he even bothered to shave that morning. He could normally go week between shaving his face, but the stubble was starting to itch and irritate him. Once he was done, he neatly folded his nightclothes and returned to the stable.
Wild sat by the bright young fire that another traveler had lit. He was fully dressed, but still wrapped in a stable blanket and he stared blankly into the flames.
"Wild, what do you have planned for breakfast?" Time asked.
Wild looked up, startled out of whatever thoughts he'd been lost in. He then narrowed his eyes and hissed at Time, then took out his slate and teleported away right in front of him.
"Ah, hehe. Always startles me when he does that," the other traveler tending to the fire laughed. Time wasn't sure what to make of it. Where had he gone?
Warriors exited the stable, dressed, but lacking armor.
"Is everyone up?" Time asked.
"It's... a slow morning." Warriors answered. "Expect to leave a little later today."
"Not too late, I hope," Time answered frowning. "We have a lot of ground to cover." He entered the stable to find most of the Links still varying states of waking up.
Sky was sitting up with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, but his eyes were closed and he looked to be asleep. Legend was sitting on the floor next to the bed. Wind was an unmoved mound of blankets. Hyrule lay awake and blinking dreamily up into the rafters. Twilight sat cross-legged on his bed rummaging through his bag while Four was curled up next to him in a tight little ball.
"What's going on? Why aren't you up yet?" Time asked. "We need to get going." He moved to Wind's bedside and shook what was probably Wind's shoulder.
"Come on, time to wake up," he said. Wind rolled to look at him with rosy cheeks and tired red eyes.
"No. Shut up. Fuck you," he growled and retreated under the covers completely. Time was taken aback.
There was a thump and Time looked up to see Sky still wrapped in his blanket but laying on the floor and inchworming toward his pile of stuff. Legend was up on his feet but he limped every single step he took and his face pinched in pain. Hyrule stretched and yawned loudly but made no move to get up. Unexpectedly, Wild strode back into the stable, grabbed Hyrule's bare foot.
"You're coming with me!" He said and teleported them both away, Hyrule squawking in surprise and dressed in nothing more than his pajamas.
Time sighed and Warriors pulled him back toward the fire outside. "The night stablemaster said that Wind was up in the night with nightmares," Warriors said. "Made him some hot chocolate and stayed up with him for a while. He'll likely need another hour or two of sleep at least."
"I see," Time said and sighed again. "Wind's behavior I can understand, but we took yesterday as a rest day for a reason--with the expectation that today everyone would be up and ready to go as soon as light allowed."
"Time. These boys may be heroes, but they're also boys. They need more than one day of rest once in a blue moon. They aren't perfect little soldiers with infinite energy and morale. You can only push them so far before they will push back."
"I know that, but we have a job to do. The Gorons--"
"Can wait," Warriors interrupted. "They aren't, dying, the city isn't under attack, the just can't dig rocks in their usual spots. It's not that urgent."
Time sighed yet another time. So much for their grand travel plans.
"Besides, I can tell that you need a break too," Warriors said with a sly grin. "You've been impatient recently, taking everything too seriously, skipping meals, nagging, sighing at every little thing that doesn't go according to plan... you need a break just as much as the rest of us."
Time refrained from sighing but he sure felt like it. He hadn't noticed he'd been doing those things more, but he certainly recognized the pattern. They were indeed some of his tells of being overworked.
"Is that why you aren't wearing your armor this morning?" Time deflected. "You already decided that today needs to be another rest day?"
"It's possible," Warriors shrugged.
Time was a proud man and he hated to admit it, but Warriors was right. They needed another rest day. If nothing else, they could do it for Wind's sake.
"So what do you say, Old Man?" Warriors prodded him.
"I think you and I are cooking breakfast this morning," Time answered. "For whenever these sleepyheads choose to get up."
"Eyyy that's was I was hoping to hear!" Warriors smiled. "I'll go tell the troops they can go back to bed. You break out the bacon and start mixing up some flapjack batter."
"Only if you tell the stablemaster we're camping out another day," Time answered.
Y’all are gonna probably call me crazy for this but this part of Season 7 lives rent free in my brain and I wanted to put an angsty twist on it. I’m literally rewatching it as I write this. Takes place after the break in. Not canon to HC, just a funny idea of what could’ve been.
Note: I was originally gonna do the imprisonment scene but I found the wrong episode and changed my mind so we get some “Grian gets himself captured during HEP’s invasion of the original Mycelium Resistance HQ in a what could’ve been scenario” angst
How had this happened? They’d been so careful. And yet, HEP had found them. The Mycelium Resistance was caught red handed in their base with the Mycelium Source Block, and their leader was at his most vulnerable.
Grian stood tall, the source block broken down and sent away with the rest of his team to prevent HEP from getting their hands on it. But it had come at a price: His freedom.
“Grian, what a wonderful surprise!” Scar chirped as he circled him, holding out his hands. “Hand over your items and come with me.”
“Or else what?” Grian asked, glaring at the HEP leader with a hint of contempt in his eyes. “You gonna kill me to get it?”
“If I must.” Scar admitted, adjusting his monocle on his face and brandishing his sword. “Hand it over, Grian. We don’t have to fight.”
Grian glared before throwing his items on the ground. “There,” He spat. “Now leave the Mycelium Resistance alone.”
“Leave them alone!?” BDubs exclaimed from the sidelines. “Oh, no, they’re guilty by association! We need the entire team, not just their scrawny little ringleader!”
“Who are you calling little, you dwarf!?
“WATCH IT!” BDubs unsheathed his sword and aimed it at Grian’s throat, ready to kill at any moment.
“BDubs. I have a better idea.” Scar rested a hand on BDubs’ shoulder before approaching Grian. “Grian. I’ll leave the rest of your little resistance alone if you come with us willingly. You do as we say, you live, and they stay safe. Break even one of our rules, and… Well. I know how much death loops can break your mind and soul. You don’t want me putting you and your Mycelium Resistance through that. Do you?”
Grian paused, conflicted. On one hand, if he took this deal, he was losing his freedom. On the other, if he didn’t, his entire team lost their lives in an endless death loop.
What other choice did Grian have?
“… Fine.”
“Perfect! Now… Follow me. Tell your team to back off.”
