#tilieth

[kikker-oma]

@skyloftian-nutcase I humbly offer you some Abel and Tilieth comfort🥺🥺

I wanted to draw what I hope happens in the next chapter of Blood of the Hero, cus both of these beans need love and sleep and comfort❤️

You also deserve love and sleep and comfort too, dear friend❤️

[skyloftian-nutcase]

How about “ache” for Blood of the Hero :)

"Love, are you in pain?"

Abel looked up from where he was sitting to see Tilieth watching him. He supposed he hadn't hidden his pinched, pained expression as well as he'd thought. Shrugging, he waved a dismissive hand. "It's a bit more of an ache than anything. I'm not hurt, Til."

Just old. It was frustrating, thinking about it. He supposed he should be thankful Link's healing chamber hadn't been damaged far later, when Abel would have been too frail to do anything about it. As it was, Tilieth could hardly carry Link, even with as thin as he was. If they'd been any older...

It was a pointless thought process, and he knew it. Bu the could still be grouchy over being so out of shape. If the world hadn't fallen apart a decade ago he'd probably be able to handle such a journey better.

But there wouldn't be a journey. Goodness, his mind was going in so many circles, he was starting to think like Tilieth. He loved his wife to death, but he couldn't exactly call her thought process linear.

"It's too bad the spirit orbs can't help us too," Tilieth chuckled a little, half joking to cheer him up.

Abel had to snort at that, amused. "It would certainly be helpful. But we're not that special, I suppose."

"Well, I think you're special," Tilieth emphasized, leaning down to kiss him.

[nancyheart11]

Abel gets a break ... Kind of

Abel felt his nose regain touch with the world first. The smell of sweat, rust and sickly sweet rotting fruit was not a pleasant one to wake up to. He felt his sluggish thoughts race along with his heart once he registered the cold prick of metal on his neck.

Wide awake in yet another nightmare Abel looked through his eyelashes, seeing something sharp being held threateningly against his neck. He managed to glance to his left under the guise of a lolling head with his captor’s swaying movement. His heart stopped as Ice filled his veins, the sight of Tilleth her head bowed, looking broken in the dusty light of the Yiga stronghold, was this some cruel trick? Tilleth was strong, far stronger than Abel had ever been, always finding some small joy even when the world was literally collapsing around them. He never stopped admiring how she kept going, kept being a light and a pillar in the ugly and dark world that Abel had become well acquainted with.

Then the Idiot in red behind him finally stopped talking, and Abel realized that kneeling before them was Fierce, far too large for the small cavern they were in. Before the shock of seeing his stupidly strong but well meaning companion on his knees could sink in, he heard a whoosh and a thud behind him.

The pressure on his neck was gone and Abel was quick to stand up . . .

Only to tilt too far as the ringing of metal assaulted his ears, the dust of the cave suddenly clogging his airways, but none of that mattered! Where was Tilleth, was she– 

He found her, beautiful with dirt smeared in her hair and clothes torn beyond repair, his face lifting in a smile without permission to gaze upon his golden light. Then his mouth opened in horror at the red-clothed traitor raising a blood stained sickle behind her. His arm raised as though he could reach her before the blade, but a large stick was thrown with terrifying precision into the Yiga’s head, the sickle falling from his hand shearing part of Tilieth’s beautiful blonde in a last disrespectful act from its owner.

Blinking at the sudden quiet, Abel jumped when he was touched only to breathe a sigh of relief that it was only Rusl, where had he come from? Next he knew they were emerging into painfully blinding sunlight, With Abel nearly being drug by the blacksmith until the fierce deity simply scooped up Abel.

He went to protest until Tilieth’s curls fell against him as she too was placed in the deities arms. Just this once he decided, he would let his stupidly strong and unfairly tall companion carry him, since it meant he could simply lay and admire her, bathing in the light that simply seeing her alive and well seemed to pour on his weary bones, feeling tears come to his eyes at the sight of the closest thing to a goddess he still believed in–

“He’s definitely concussed Fierce, we need to find one of those stables and hope they can help.”

Abel felt a chin touch his head for a moment and looked up, confused. 

Oh!

Right He was being carried by Fierce, how could he forget? 

Fierce looked at Rusl, gave a little hum and scooped him into his other arm, jostling Abel painfully and making his teeth ache with each step, though eventually he grew used to it enough to take his arm off of his eyes. He looked in awe as the landscape blurred by them from the speeds Fierce was traveling, he’d never seen him move that fast, could he always do that? Eventually the familiar giant fabric horse heads adorning the tops of stable’s came over the horizon and quickly grew, almost like someone had dumped a glass of water on a dried apple and watched it expand with all the liquid at once.

Abel giggled at the thought of re-waterified apples but stopped when Tilieth looked at him with raw open concern, she shouldn’t be looking at him like that! She should be showing off her honey sweet smile to the whole world!

Fierce skidded to a stop outside out the stable entrance, grass being violently pulled from the ground as his boot dug deep into the packed earth. The stable hand waiting at the outside counter had his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide as he stared at the deity, standing tall in gleaming armor with three people being easily carried in his arms.

Fierce looked at Rusl, who simply offered a small smile before extracting himself from the arm and walking up to the man, knocking gently on the counter to get his attention.

The man jumped a little, before realizing Rusl was there band nervously straightening his hat a little.

“ Ah yes, w-what can a do for you, sirs?”

His smile looked more like he had just bitten into a voltfruit than anything, but once Rusl mentioned medical aid the man’s eyes sharpened and he nodded before bringing his fingers to his mouth in a short whistle, then a vaguely familiar man with a shaved head and short beard came to the front. Abel squinted at him, trying to figure out what–

His vision became smeared and confusing, and he felt as though the world was spinning, he felt something under his knees and despite not being able to make out anything in the sickening spin of colors, started trying to crawl away from whatever was so horrible as to make all this happen.

He continued crawling until a small hand landed in his greasy tangled hair, moving back and forth slowly, soothingly. He couldn’t help leaning into the one nice thing around him right now, and gradually the world stopped spinning and the man with the beard was crouched in front of him, a spoonful of something red and sickly sweet held in front of his nose. This close he noticed a faint scar running from the man’s temple, down to his lip, coming close to his eye and nose without damaging either.

Huh

The man tried to force the spoon closer and Abel turned his head away with pursed lips, he didn’t know who this was, and he definitely didn’t want anything this man had to offer. Tilieth gently grabbed the spoon and whispered encouraging things in his ears as she brought it around. He still didn’t like it, but if his wife trusted it then he had no choice but to agree, so he swallowed the chalky and oddly bitter liquid, feeling a little betrayed still, he stuck out his tongue at the man to let him know that he didn’t like it.

As the liquid dropped to his stomach he felt a warm tingling in his head, and then the pull of sleep was too much and he succumbed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Abel felt the call of nature try to drag him from sleep, but he stubbornly resisted, snuggling into Tilieth’s hair more, wanting just a few more minutes of–

Wait

His heart started pounding and his shot open, so scared of what he might see. But it was indeed Tilieth’s messy curls in front of him. Abel felt his eyes water from sheer relief, oh by the goddesses he had missed this. He went to put his head in Tilieth’s hair, but some got in his nose and he ended up doing several loud booming sneezes in quick succession.

Tilieth didn’t stir at all, but a hand larger than his head came into view, holding a handkerchief?

He stared at the thing in confusion, then followed the frankly enormous hand up the muscular arm to the familiar face of the Fierce Deity, Abel sighed as pieces of memory fell into place, telling him that his son being missing and having spent some time with his insane companions was not in fact, a bad dream. He reluctantly grabbed the piece of cloth from Fierce and used it to blow his nose, feeling a pounding headache begin between his eyes. When  fierce shifted and sunlight burned his eyes, Abel realized he must’ve gotten injured somewhat severely, since he couldn’t remember them rescuing Tilieth. The last thing he recalled was him going ahead to see if he could scout out the Yiga guards for the hideout, since his old dusty clothes were basically the same color as the dirt anyway. Then nothing.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust at himself, at the fact that he never seemed to be able to protect the ones he loved, first with Link, then tilieth, and now–

Fierce put an awkwardly large hand on his head and snapped Abel out of frustratingly familiar thoughts. He looked at Abel and once again Abel felt small under the endless gaze of the white void that made Fierce’s eyes.

“Do not fret little soldier, your beloved is safe, and I will protect you both as you recover.”

Okayyy? That was a little weird even coming from Fierce, just what had happened after he’d passed out? He looked beyond the looming figure of Fierce and realized that the cloth walls and wood flooring was clearly those of a stable. They were in an area that had been curtained off to just contain the extra soft bed Tilieth and he were sharing, and the Fierce deity himself, sitting with his sword in his lap in a casual threat display. How long had he been sitting on the hard wood floor?* Rusl peeked around the curtain and saw Abel awake, his clearly tired face lifting in a happy grin when he saw Abel awake.

Abel was struck with the change in Rusl’s expression, just from seeing him. They hadn’t really known each other all that long, despite the fact that so much seemed to happen since Link was taken that it had felt like an eternity. Yet already Rusl, who had a loving wife, three kids, and a flourishing homeland for some reason seemed to genuinely enjoy his presence? Him? Tilieth teased him about being a grump because of how not friendly he was naturally. 

Abel must have been hit really hard if he was experiencing such strong changes in emotion when for years he mostly been so tired that only his bitter and burnt determination was really able to be felt. 

“You’re awake friend! Looks like that potion helped a lot! I’m glad they still had a spoonful.”

Rusl was glad, but Abel felt his stomach swoop at the words. The last spoonful? That meanth they had no more, what happened if the Yiga were coming for them right now? With reinforcements!

“Rusl noticed the tightness in his face and spoke up. “The man who gave it to us, is collecting the ingredients to make more now, it’s why he was in the area at all apparently. And I already agreed to help him prep the things for making more when he got back. So don’t worry too much alrigh’?”

Abel sent him a halfhearted glare for the sudden twang he added to his words at the end as he gave a cheeky wink. He didn’t like it, the theatrics he’d just seen were the kind Rusl used when he was trying to keep their search for the boys out of strangers' ears. He narrowed his eyes, just what was Rusl hiding.

Fierce, cutting through the tension with his usual social awareness, that is to say almost none stated.

“Little soldier, our arrival here has caused a stir, several of the men say they are friends of yours. If they are Yiga I will happily dispose of them."

Abel was once again grateful for such a strong warrior on his side, with Fierce here he could actually rest for once, since no one in their right minds would try to attack with him nearby.

Rusl gave Fierce a shake of his head, and the sword that Abel hadn’t noticed being raised was lowered again, while Rusl brought Abel a bowl filled with a savory smelling soup. He spotted bits of Endure carrots, hearty radishes, some potato, and something green in the golden broth. Along with chunks of cuckoo floating in bits just asking Abel to dig in. He almost missed Rusl handing him the spoon with how hard he was concentrating on not drooling. He was 2 bites into the soup when Tilieth stirred and Abel put it aside to help her sit up, dipping the spoon back in and bringing it to her mouth instead, far more concerned about the new sharpness to her cheekbones than his lingering hunger. She ate most of it, then laid her head on his shoulder, and for one sweet moment all was right in the world.

“So, who are your new friends here?”

Oh … oh no, he did not have the energy to give Tilieth the unfortunate tale of just how he’d gotten to the point where traveling with a deity and a human from different times in Hyrule’s history had become normal, maybe even nice.

Luckily for him Rusl chose that moment to return with a second bowl of soup, smiling politely at Tilieth and introducing himself in his humble, yet strong way.

Abel let his head drop back and asked.

“Rusl, would you tell Tilieth what’s been happening? I don’t want to think about it more than I have to right now.”

He brought his head up to see everyone in the room staring at him. He squirmed uncomfortably inside at the attention. It couldn’t be that strange for him to recognize Rusl would do a better job, could it?

Rusl turned his shock into a smile and started in, with only the occasional interjection from Abel or Fierce of how this strange situation came to be. Tilieth listened raptly to it all, gasping and cheering at all the right places, while Rusl made it seem like Abel was a far better fighter than he was, after all he couldn’t rip the limbs off a guardian the way Fierce could, and Rusl held far more skills close to his chest than Abel would have believed possible. By the time Rusl had finished the story Abel felt a buzzing in his bones that begged him to move, or he’d go crazy.

So he hopped out of bed and went to open the curtain. Going about their business in front of him were men, familiar men. There was Jhonston of the 3rd division sweeping the floor, who’d been excellent with a spear, but had a lousy stance for close combat and had never managed to get it good enough to get promoted.

Obaleen was taking sheets off the bed’s and putting fresh one’s on, his eye for detail still clear as day despite being used on bedding rather than organizing arrows and daggers in the royal armory.

And Potsy, whose real name he’d never heard since their squadron worked far from the castle most of the time, was putting flowers into the vase of all things.

Obaleen saw him first. Dropping the bedding in his hands to the floor he pointed at Abel who froze.

“Guys, it really is the Captain he’s back!”

Everyone in the stable turned to look at him like he’s pulled the sun out of his pack or something. Suddenly the soup he’d had earlier felt like far too much, with how they sat like rocks in his stomach, the weight of all these men he’d left for dead looking at him like he was, like he was a hero, or even a good man made him want to throw up, or tear off his skin, or sink into the floor.

Rusl came out and, after only a glance at the rest of the room, started gently guiding Abel back towards the curtain.

“He’s still got a concussion, and is in need of rest and quiet. Sorry to disappoint, but I think he’d much rather see his freshly rescued wife than any of us”

Abel felt his ears burn as the room erupted in good natured laughter, the men easily letting him leave the burning weight of their eyes and get back to the relative safety of being behind the curtain and by Fierce. How did Rusl do it? He’d just taken a situation where Abel was frozen, and made it seem so easy and simple? Regardless he was grateful to climb back in with Tilieth and bury his head in her shoulder. Pretending the rest of the tent that he was now all too aware of, simply weren’t there.

He’d already gone through this with Impa? So why had it felt like the very breathe was being choked out of him when the men looked at him like he was someone special, someone good, someone who could–

Someone who could save them. Link had dealt with this for years as the princess’s chosen knight, and once they got him back and he woke up again, he’d be dealing with it again too. Abel couldn’t stop the few tears that leaked out into Tilieth’s shift at the fact that Link had had to deal with that everyday, in a never ending but always mounting pressure to perform.

Eventually the suffocatingly boisterous noise from beyond the curtain fell silent, and someone pushed aside the curtain to enter their little area. The man had a shaved head, a close cropped salt and pepper beard and-

“Regis?!?”

Abel couldn’t believe it. He’d watched this man go down under some rubble broken from an awning by a guardian’s laser, there was no way he’d survived the Calamity … though people said that about Link too. Either way he had to fight not to narrow his eyes in obvious suspicion at the man.

“Hey, good to know you’re still kicken, though you can stop trying to hold back, you look like you have dust in your eyes, Straightlace.”

Abel sent a exasperated look at Tilieth as she started giggling at the mention of the old nickname. He’d been called that for being so strict about rules, but after how the last decade had gone, the nickname fit about as well as a childhood boot and he grimaced. 

Regis gave him a nod of respect, didn’t try to get any closer to Abel, and pulled Rusl outside the little bubble that had been created with the curtain. He blinked for a moment before realizing that Regis must have been the person who was making red potions. He felt a familiar pride well up, Regis and he had been in the same year at the Knight’s academy and he had always admired the ease with which the other would pick up new skills when he put his mind to them, it looked like that natural aptitude was serving him well since everything had changed.

Abel felt like someone had taken a hammer to his head and he dropped, grunting as he held his head in his hands, trying to ride out the pain. Apparently he’d been louder than he thought, since he was vaguely aware of more bodies around than there should be, extra pillows and a warm cup of something being pushed into his trembling hands. He heard Tilieth say something next to him and the overwhelming presences retreated. When the pain cleared enough to take a look around, he say that in his hands was a warm cup of milk. When was the last time he’d allowed himself such a luxury? He couldn’t remember. He sipped at it, feeling something warmer than the milk itself settle in his brittle bones.

The next time someone came to the curtain he summoned every shred of courage he could muster to look them in the eye, then slumped in relief to see it was just Rusl, carrying his headband in one hand while he wiped some sweat from his brow with the other. Rusl saw the way he slumped and offered a comforting smile.

“Facing old memories can be real hard, I’m sorry you got surprised like that friend.* Let me know how I can help, kay”

Abel wondered just how Rusl could still be so upbeat, so purely good and kind, even with how long his eldest had been missing, it was baffling to consider. Abel couldn’t help being selfishly grateful for the cheer though, misplaced as it was being wasted on him, since he should be just fine dealing with very men he used to work with before the Calamity. He shook his head and shimmed out of bed, careful of Tilieth’s once again asleep form, her imprisonment had been hard on her and he wanted her to get as much rest as she possibly could, Fierce’s strong presence ensuring she would be safe even if Abel himself couldn’t watch over her.

“I should just face this, I can’t hide behind a curtain forever.”

Still, when Rusl put and hand on his shoulder to walk with him Abel felt the spool of tangled feelings in his gut loosen enough to breathe, just for a moment as he walked into the main area of the stable. Potsy saw him and waved them over.

“You lads are ‘ere just in time! Leenie here just declared the apple pie cool enough to eat, an from what ol’ Regis says you’ll appreciate it the most!”

Abel blinked in surprise. Apple pie? While the world was still so dangerous? Though more surprising was the fact that Regis had known it was his favorite, he couldn’t remember telling the man what his favorite food was, but for some reason he’d found out and still knew even a decade since he’d last seen the man.

A warm plate of pie was pushed into his slack hands, Abel fumbling not to drop the plate in his surprise, looking down at the flaky puffed crust, the curved ridges where the two pieces had been pinched together having a golden tint and begging to be picked off for the taste. The filling was oozing from where it had been trapped in the crust before being cut, gentle curls of steam rising from the honey yellowed apples in a golden syrup speckled with the spices that made Abel’s mouth water as he went to reach for his fork, only to realize he didn’t have one. Rusl slid him one from where he was sitting next to a messy pile of utensils and Abel dug in, uncaring of the fact that his eyes were closed in bliss, his ears were hearing nothing over the sound of memories past, and he was paying no attention to his surroundings at all.

His fork clinked against an empty plate, and Abel looked down in surprise, disappointed to see only a few this smears of syrup on the plate. But then Regis reached across the table and snatched his plate from his hands, coming back quickly with a second slice, handing it to Abel with a smirk, knowing he wouldn’t say no. 

“Tilieth will kill me if I don’t make sure she gets some.”

“I already got her a plate, Abel walked right past you while you were busy, in fact.”

Abel felt his ears burn as the others laughed at Rusl’s remark, wishing for a moment he had ears like Rusl’s that would be hidden under his mess of hair. But then he remembered the pie in front of him and turned to that rather than deal with the people around him.

After he had finished his second plate and was enjoying the lingering taste of cinnamon coating his tongue, he brought his plate to the washing area and helped, finally feeling sure enough that the men here wouldn’t stab him … while he was awake that is. He found the familiar jokes and cadence of talking with people who’d been through the same hell he had, nice.

When he finished with the dishes Tilieth had come out from behind the curtain, wearing a borrowed dress that needed a sash to cinch the waist. She was leaning on the wall, a content smile on her gorgeous face as she watched him. Rusl came back in with Regis and they were both forced to sit down and drink another health potion, Rusl making a face at the awful taste, especially compared to the bliss of the apple pie he’d had earlier.

He looked over to see Potsy filling a frankly enorams bag with what looked like rations. Potsy noticed him and gave him a sloppy salute with a gap toothed grin. 

“Almost done and you can go and get those banana smelling sons of Ganon, Cap’n!”

Abel looked at him in disbelief, how did they know? His eyes narrowed and he looked around until he spotted Rusl bu Obaleen, laughing about something as they folded clothing that looked to be suspiciously his size. He pinched his nose at the lack of secrecy, but let it lay, what’s done is done he supposed.

After that it was a whirlwind of preparation and dragging Tilieth behind the curtain for stolen kisses before they were weighed down with a pack that looked normal on Fierce’s broad back. All the men wishing them well and telling him they’d get the word out about the Yiga’s latest plot and a group of boys. Abel almost teared up turning away from the warmth of the stable towards the cold of braving a new dawn. But he squared his shoulders, patted Tilieth’s leg against Ama, and weighed down with the kindness of men he hadn’t seen in a decade, they set out towards Kakariko.

Happy Birthday @skyloftian-nutcase I hope you have a wonderful day and that you enjoy Abel getting the closest thing to a break he can!

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Blood of the Hero Ch 19 (Link's Parents Play BotW)

Summary: The Soul of the Hero will always be there to save Hyrule. But when Calamity Ganon is nearly victorious in killing him, it's those that bear the Blood of the Hero who will prevail. Ten years after the Great Calamity, the Shrine of Resurrection is damaged and Link's parents fight to save their son and Hyrule along with him.

(AO3 link)

Chapter 19: The Mighty Gerudo - The Stable

Abel woke up in pain.

Tilieth noticed it immediately, with how stiffly her poor husband was moving, the way he paused after sitting up, frozen in an awkward position, breaths shallow.

“Honey, lay back down,” she insisted quickly, anxious. “What’s wrong?”

Abel was quiet a moment, face stony, before he sighed, relenting. “I’m just sore, Til.”

Was that the case, or was he hiding something? “Sore?”

Her husband’s expression grew weary, and he settled back on the ground, hand resting atop Link’s chest as he watched the teenager breathe softly. “Those fights from yesterday just wore me out a little, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”

“If you need to rest, then we can just stay here for the morning,” Tilieth insisted. “I can investigate the stable—”

“Not by yourself,” Abel argued, sitting back up and glaring at her.

“You can’t protect me all the time, Abel,” Tilieth fired back, growing frustrated. “You’re exhausted, and if we truly are going to—”

She cut herself off, and neither spoke. After all, they’d yet to decide what they would do once they reached Gerudo Town.

Were they really going to split up, after how horribly things had gone down in Kakariko?

It wasn’t as if things had gotten so bad because they’d separated. It was because Abel had let himself fall apart and hadn’t sought help. But could Tilieth truly trust him on his own after that?

Probably not. It had been a good idea at the time, born from a need for efficiency, but there seemed little point anymore. What difference did it make to seek out Purah? They knew what they needed to do. Even if she could teach them more about the slate, or perhaps help them with—

But what if she can help fix the Shrine of Resurrection itself?

Abel had given up on that. Tilieth knew that. But she wasn’t sure she herself entirely had.

Sighing, she knelt down on Link’s other side, watching her son’s eyes flutter open from the argument. He stared beyond her, blinking slowly, face placid, and she kissed his temple.

“Fine,” she finally conceded. “We’ll go to the stable in the afternoon, so you can rest.”

“Tilieth, we still… we still have to get to the Gerudo,” Abel noted, though with far less bite in his tone. “We can’t just linger here. Give me about an hour, okay? I’ll be fine. It’s just soreness.”

As he spoke, she could see the frustration returning, tightening his shoulders as he glared at the wall. She didn’t want to pick a fight, so she tried getting to the heart of the matter, putting her hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Abel. We’ll get him to the Gerudo.”

“It’s not—it’s just—” Abel cut himself off, rubbing his hand down his face. “I didn’t used to—I’m out of shape. It’ll get better.”

“Honey, we are in our fifties,” Tilieth chuckled. “Give yourself some grace.”

“The damn world is ending, our son is dying, and the dead king told us that danger is coming,” Abel snapped, sitting up abruptly. “I’m not giving myself that much grace.”

Tilieth bit her lips, hand receding hastily to her chest, feeling the words sting. She too grew frustrated, but it melted into exhaustion of its own right. While Abel’s body was worn thin, Tilieth’s patience felt the same.

She wished her husband could just… she didn’t know. He was trying, she knew that.

Maybe it was just a rough day for both of them.

She really wished she could go to the stable. She knew that would help her out. But she would wait for his sake.

One hour, at least.

“I’ll bathe Link,” she muttered before pausing, considering her words. Was there even water to clean him? She couldn’t leave him soiled, but they had a limited supply.

Abel read her expression easily, saying, “I think the shrine uprooted an underground spring. It’s muddy as hell, but it looks fresh, behind the shrine. You probably missed it on the way in since it was getting dark.”

Oh? Fresh water? She could boil and filter it well enough if it meant they could replenish their supply. She was a bit hesitant to fully bathe Link, though – she couldn’t risk getting dirt into his wounds. Although they had healed considerably from when he’d first gotten out of the Shrine, they were still grievous.

Tilieth nodded, handing a snack over to Abel before she headed outside with her son in tow, examining the small pond. The pale dawn light barely reflected on its dull surface – it was indeed very filthy, but she could probably make it work. Tilieth took the time to peer over the canyon wall and check on the horses, smiling down at them, before returning her attention to Link. She’d ensure the horses had more water once he was clean. Grabbing supplies from her pouch, she pulled out a cooking pot, kindling, and flint, boiling the water and using spare cloth to help filter it.

“I wish your father would just—ugh,” she grumbled to Link as he looked at the sky, propped against the canyon wall. “It’s—he’s—I don’t know how to just get him to—I understand that the situation is dire, it’s ridiculous if he thinks I don’t, but—but he can’t fix everything.”

She paused from wringing out the cloth, sitting back a little and slouching tiredly. The sound of laughter caught her attention, and she scrambled to the edge of the cliff, looking down at the stable.

People. She saw people! A handful of them, at least, just lingering outside the stable. She recognized the man from yesterday that they had encountered, lounging by a cooking pot with a couple other people. A little boy scurried around the stable, laughing as he ran, dashing between two others before rushing inside the large structure.

Oh, how she wanted to go down there. She was so curious. This was the first intact Hylian settlement she’d seen in a decade.

But she held herself in check. If Abel was respecting her request to rest, she would respect his request to wait. Slowly, she made her way back to Link, who was starting to doze off as the air warmed up.

“Oh, honey,” she cooed, brushing dust out of his hair. “I wonder if there are enough shrines out there to truly heal you without the Shrine of Resurrection. Abel had told me how injured you were initially, and…”

And she hadn’t slept for a month without seeing the conjured images in her nightmares. But that had been years ago when he’d told her, when she’d insisted, when her husband’s own trauma had gotten the best of him as he’d described every horrific detail while he’d sharpened a weapon with trembling hands.

She could still see them bleeding in her own memory from just a few weeks ago.

Has it really only been a few weeks? Has it even been that long?

She slowly pulled the bandages off the teenager, looking over his injuries. His neck was no longer actively wounded, but the skin was paler there, stiff and scarred over. His cavernous leg wound was still fairly deep, but its width had decreased a fair amount, nearly the size of her fist rather than tearing across the majority of his shin. The deep lacerations on his belly were nearly superficial, though still fairly reddened. The swelling in his left arm was almost gone. Instead, he was just far thinner than he should be, all his energy being burned up to just keep him alive and prevent his wounds from worsening as the spirit orbs slowly chipped away at them. Tilieth did note with some relief, though, that the rashes he developed from the harness were healed away with each spirit orb, with each elixir she could give him.

But Abel had insisted they ration the elixirs, and so when she saw a little bit of sunburn on her son’s face that hadn’t quite been healed with the shrines yesterday, she felt her heart ache at not being able to do much about it.

She tried to distract herself and simply talk to her baby, resuming filtering the water as she spoke. “It’s good to see that you’re doing better, you know. I bet you’re feeling better too. I remember when I was so very ill, one day would blend into the next, and I felt so miserable. I’m glad you can at least sleep through it, I suppose. But Link, your father – he can be such a nuisance, you know. I love him dearly, but sometimes I forget how stubborn he is. Or, really, how bad it can be when that stubbornness is turned against me.”

Smiling, she added, “But I know you got that same determination from him, so I can only be so upset about it, I suppose.”

Honestly, she probably truly missed that determination. Abel was so broken, mind so warped from what he’d witnessed and endured. He was trying now to listen, at least, and perhaps… perhaps someday he too would be healed, like Link.

And what about me?

Tilieth paused before sighing again, finally swirling clean water in the cooking pot. She knew she could heal. Or, well… she hoped.

And that had to be enough.

“All right, sweetheart,” she said as she dipped a washcloth into the water. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and then I can make some breakfast. And then, perhaps, Abel will be amenable to going down to see the stable. I can’t wait. Can you imagine, Link? I wonder about the people down there, their stories, how the stable is even still around, and—”

Tilieth stopped, staring at the damp cloth in her hands, the muddy water, and then she laughed, struck with an idea.

“My gosh,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I—I suppose we really should utilize the tools we’re given, shouldn’t we? Thank Hylia.”

And oh how she did, how she offered up a prayer as inspiration hit her, and she grabbed the slate off her belt, looking at the map to see what options she had to take Link elsewhere and get clean water. They could probably just go back to the Plateau, honestly, though Tilieth wasn’t too keen on revisiting it when it had been so long – the monsters up there were nothing to Abel, but they repopulated quickly and Tilieth was taking Link by herself. Perhaps they could just go back to Kakariko? She didn’t want to continue to intrude on their hospitality, not over something so simple, this was just matter of convenience—

Oh, wait! Abel had registered a tower a few days ago that Tilieth hadn’t seen. And there was a ton of water around the Lanayru Tower.

Looking, Tilieth pinched on the screen to zoom in, and then she felt her breath freeze in her chest.

Hateno Tower.

He’d… he’d gone near Hateno?

What had he seen? Had he gotten anywhere near the village itself?!

Tilieth recalled the travelers at the Dueling Peaks Stable, recalled their comments about the village, and she dropped the slate, hands trembling.

Link sniffled, startled awake once more by the noise she’d made, and she hugged herself, shaking her head.

There was no way she could travel on her own with Link if she couldn’t endure this. They wouldn’t be able to separate and cover more ground, Abel wouldn’t be able to find Purah—

She didn’t want to be the reason they couldn’t help Link faster. And then she frowned, realizing she was using the exact same argument Abel had ground out earlier.

Except I’m not so ill that I accidentally injure others or myself.

Well. Perhaps she was. She’d put that weight on her husband, after all.

Tilieth sighed, feeling her eyes sting, earlier excitement forgotten. Perhaps she should just stay here and use this water rather than wander off.

But she couldn’t keep hiding. Now she was growing frustrated with herself, eager to prove that she could handle this, to make herself realize she had to handle this.

Abel will lose his mind if you leave without telling him.

But if she only left briefly, it would be fine.

You can’t leave Link alone out here.

She would bring him along.

You can hardly carry him far enough for anything substantial.

“Ugh,” she groaned, resuming Link’s bath with a scowl.

Link hissed when she brushed against his belly, eyes squeezing shut. Tilieth leapt back like she’d been burned, eyes wide.

He—he was hurting?? He hadn’t—but—

“Oh, Link, oh honey I’m so sorry!” she said hastily, heart racing. Her boy hadn’t really felt much since the Plateau, she’d thought the spirit orbs collected by that point had numbed the pain! What was happening? Was he getting worse?!

Oh goddess, oh Hylia please don’t make him worse we’ll hurry up, I’ll stop dawdling what if we just skip the stable entirely would that make it better, I’m so sorry—

A low groan rumbled in the air, and Tilieth felt all the hair on her body stand up. There was some shouting from down below in the stable, and she heard the words lightning storm, making her heart skip a beat.

But—but there had barely been any clouds when she’d come out! Tilieth looked around frantically, noting how the air felt heavy and electric, but the sky—

The sky was clear, save for a few wisps of clouds and a—

Tilieth stared, mouth dropping open as she stumbled to her feet.

What was—what sort of creature—was that a dragon?!

The beast flew slowly, weaving in the air as if it were swimming, scales evident on its body, protruding from its back and glowing greenish yellow. It let out a loud, low growl that shook the air once more like thunder.

Tilieth didn’t know what to do, what to make of such a situation. She could only watch, trying to truly believe she was seeing what was in front of her. Its hues grew ever brighter as it sank lower to the canyon, and Tilieth moved towards Link, startled, as it flew directly over them. She watched her and her son’s hair grow frizzy in response, and she dragged him away from the water as sparks appeared in the air. Tilieth hugged Link tightly, terrified and awed as she watched the creature fly overhead.

And then it rose into the sky and disappeared behind a thin veil of clouds, the wind carrying the strange weather with it.

Tilieth stared, stunned, speechless, and then she yelped as she heard someone walking nearby.

Abel came into her sight quickly. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

Tilieth pointed to the sky, but she couldn’t adequately articulate anything. Abel glanced up to see a clear, sunny day, and then he looked back at his wife, who was holding their still partly bathed child. She probably looked insane.

“Til?” He asked tentatively, a little bemused but also bearing that patience he would get when Tilieth would go off on a tangent over something that excited her.

“A dragon!” She finally exclaimed. “Abel, I saw a dragon!”

Abel blinked. Blinked again. “A… Til, what?”

“It was a dragon!” She insisted, heart racing, mind whirling. What could this mean? Such a mythical creature was—and she—this had to be a sign from Hylia, right?

Oh, what a blessing this was!!

“Til, dragons aren’t real,” Abel noted dully.

“Like koroks?” Tilieth countered.

“Koroks are magical creatures, yes, but there are accounts of people or children seeing them. Dragons, though…”

“I saw it!” She insisted.

Abel bit his lip. “Okay.”

He didn’t believe her, but she didn’t care. This had to mean something important! Before she could ramble further, though, her husband added, “Let’s finish bathing Link, okay? I can cook, if you want.”

“Wha—oh!” Tilieth looked at her son quickly, remembering why she’d stopped bathing him, and then froze.

Link wasn’t grimacing anymore, so that was promising. But the fact that he had…

What did any of this mean? What even was this morning? Tilieth sighed and nodded to her husband, who scooted over to the cooking pot. Tilieth quietly took the water she’d cleaned and gently resumed Link’s bath, watching his every move. He twitched occasionally as she brushed over wounds, but nothing quite as dramatic as his first reaction.

For a moment, just a moment, she swore his eyes flicked over to look at her as she pressed against a tender area, but he looked beyond her, as usual.

Tilieth swallowed, wondering, hoping desperately that maybe he would get better quickly. She finished the bath as gently as she could, and Abel had breakfast ready for them. As they ate, she could sense the tension rising in the air, her own excited anticipation to go to the stable contrasting with Abel’s growing anxiety on the matter.

“It’ll be fine,” she said quietly as she fed Link. “We have to see it, Abel. Don’t you want to see a little piece of Hyrule that’s rebuilding?”

“We saw Kakariko,” Abel replied immediately.

Tilieth wilted a little, tired of arguing her point, and she quietly finished her breakfast. Abel watched her and then sighed heavily.

“Well, from what I know it’s half a day’s trek to Gerudo Town,” he said carefully, packing things. “If we were to start now we’d be doing it in the hottest part of the day, which isn’t wise, and the horses won’t handle it. So, we might as well see your stable and rest there until evening. We can cross the desert tonight.”

Tilieth stared, and then smiled, lunging forward to hug her husband. Abel pat her back and kissed her cheek, and she held his hands as she pulled away. “It’ll be fine, Abel, you’ll see!”

The couple finished gathering everything and getting Link situated in the harness before carefully sliding down the canyon wall, giving water to Ama and Epona, and making their way along the path. Tilieth felt her excitement rise as she approached the stable, marveling at how large and wonderful and alive it looked since it wasn’t destroyed. There were bare traces of damage, patched up tarp in certain areas, scorch marks on the horse head with some rotted wood, but overall, it was intact.

There were two people outside the stable, currently. Tilieth recognized the dark haired man from yesterday, and there was someone else she hadn’t seen before, a woman with chestnut skin whose black hair was spilling out of a ponytail in tight, frizzy curls. The two were talking a little before noticing Tilieth and Abel.

The man stiffened.

Tilieth tried to head off his worries, understanding he had cause to be nervous given Abel’s behavior yesterday. She held a hand up and waved. “Hello! We don’t mean any trouble, we just wanted to stop by and rest for a little while.”

The man—Niamo if Tilieth recalled correctly—relaxed a little, looking the pair over. “Remember the rule is no weapons.”

Abel held his hands up. “I’m unarmed.”

He wasn’t, really – they’d just stashed everything in Tilieth’s little travel pouch. Besides, he was also carrying Link – that had to count for something.

“Oh, is your friend alright?” The woman asked, moving towards them. “Does he need water? The weather here can be brutal if you’re not prepared.”

“Some water would be nice, actually,” Tilieth said, smiling at Abel. See? We’ll resupply here too!

Abel sighed, relenting, letting Tilieth lead him closer to the stable. They guided their horses there and Tilieth was surprised to see another one penned up already. “How many travelers are here?”

“Right now, about two,” the woman answered. “The rest of us just live here.”

“Two travelers?” Abel repeated, eyes searching the place immediately.

“Relax,” Niamo said, though he kept his distance and his voice was a bit more commanding than reassuring. “No weapons rule means no one should be a problem.”

Tilieth also looked around purely out of curiosity as they entered, the shade a blessed release from the sweltering heat. There were eight people in the stable, which meant six of them actually lived there.

That was far more than she expected, honestly. This was so intriguing! “How do you manage to get enough food and water for six of you on a regular basis?”

“There’s a well,” Niamo noted dully. “And food comes from some hunting and some trade.”

“You trade? With who? The Gerudo?” Abel questioned.

“Oh yes,” the woman answered as she grabbed a pitcher of water. “Quite often, actually. They help keep the area safe, too.”

Tilieth brightened even more. There was so much promising information to be obtained here!

Abel slowly lowered Link to a bed, and their boy squirmed a little to get comfortable before slumping, face looking more at ease than he had most of the morning. It made Tilieth and Abel both pause a moment, and Tilieth remembered him hissing in pain during his bath.

She’d initially been discouraged by him feeling pain. But now she was wondering if it was a good sign, that he was actively more aware of his surroundings, of himself.

“What’s wrong with him?” The woman asked as she approached with the water.

“He’s sick,” Abel answered automatically. “Thank you for the water.”

“What’s your name?” Tilieth asked. “I’m Tilieth, and this is Abel. And the boy is… is, ah—”

“Bazz,” Abel supplied easily, brushing hair out of Link’s sweaty face.

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Firis. Not a common name for this area, but I’m not originally from here, so it is what it is haha!” The woman said with a laugh. “Is Bazz your son? He looks just like you.”

There really was no denying it – Link and Abel were practically mirrors of each other, aside from age and Link’s current condition. Abel knew this as well and nodded.

There was a moment of silence, and Abel shifted uncomfortably, but the woman, Firis, pushed beyond it. “Oh, well, I’m glad you three are able to travel together. I hope your son is on the mend. It’s nice to see new faces, we hardly get many travelers.”

“You said there were two others who are traveling and staying here?” Tilieth asked, eager to learn more.

“Oh, yes,” Firis nodded with a smile. “Well, here, let me introduce everyone! We’ll put your names in the roster too. But as I said, I’m Firis, and I help run the stable. My husband, Brecken, is better with the horses and I’m better with the people, so that’s usually how we divide it out. He’s out back at the moment. You met Niamo already, I see, he’s one of our permanent residents. He helps us maintain supplies, bless him. Now let’s see, there’s Zoko over there—he’s my brother-in-law—and Meya in the corner is working on some sewing. I think Eldson is collecting rushrooms. Our two travelers are still sleeping – they were pretty roughed up when they came in last night, so we’ve been trying to keep things quiet for them to rest.”

Tilieth glossed over the different people are they were pointed to, marveling at it. Of course, she’d seen more people at Kakariko, but this was different – after seeing a dilapidated stable and two completely destroyed ones, this was a blessing.

Between this and the dragon, she had to believe Hylia was telling her something.

Oh, but wait. “Aren’t there children here? I thought I heard some when we were getting close, and I saw one yesterday.”

“Eldson is eight,” Firis answered. “But he’s out at the moment. One of the guests is young as well, it’s a mother and her daughter traveling together. They were hoping to find sanctuary in Gerudo Town, I think.”

Tilieth perked up. “Oh, we’re heading that way too! Perhaps we could travel together.”

Abel stiffened, but he didn’t comment.

“I think they would take comfort in that,” Firis said eagerly. “Poor things were exhausted, it looks like they’ve been through it. I don’t know too much about their story, they came in last night and have slept the entire time since then.”

“Oh, poor things,” Tilieth lamented softly, worriedly glancing at the bed—beds! This place had beds!—that had its curtains drawn. “Well, thank you very much for your hospitality and your help. Is there anything we can do to help around here as payment? I’m afraid we, ah, don’t have many rupees.”

Firis barked out a laugh. “Rupees don’t mean much anymore anyway. But I don’t usually charge anything—we’re blessed to have Zoko and Niamo help us with the Gerudo, so we’re usually not hurting for anything. Meya helps maintain the place with me and Brecken, and Eldson has enough energy to run a stable all his own!”

Tilieth hummed as she sat at the other side of Link’s bed, stroking his hair. “That’s very fortunate. I’m glad things seem to be going well here. I’m just—I’m just so surprised, you see, we haven’t seen a mostly intact stable in, well…”

She glanced uncertainly at Abel, who muttered, “A long time.”

Firis nodded. “I’ve heard similar from others.”

“How did this place survive the Calamity?” Abel asked, genuinely curious.

Firis sighed a little, looking elsewhere. “By the grace of Hylia, honestly. When the Calamity happened, the Gerudo guardian beast, Vah Naboris, went insane like the rest of the guardians. Killed a lot of people. Many of us fled from the desert to the stable. Guardians never made it to the desert, but a few of them made it to the canyon leading in, but that was days later. We hunkered down here listening to Naboris go on a rampage. It was terrifying. And then, there was screaming and explosions, we heard guardians down the canyon, but then it all just… stopped. We only got a little damage to the stable from all the ruckus they caused, none ever got to us. But it… took a long time to clean up everything afterward.”

The princess. The guardians got here just as she reached the castle, Tilieth supposed. She recalled her own situation, when—

Tilieth felt her chest tighten, her heart rate quickening, and she felt her hands trembling. She knew this was something she had to face, but… not now. She was here to learn and feel refreshed, to enjoy herself. She would address the issue later, with Abel… or perhaps, really, with herself. Abel didn’t need anything else put on him. Certainly not at the moment – Tilieth knew she would be a hypocrite to hide it from him, but he was well aware how much conversations like this bothered her.

In fact, he’d already noticed her change in demeanor, and he changed the subject. “Well, either way, let us know if there’s anything we can do to help. We won’t be staying long.”

“Of course,” Firis nodded. “In turn, if you need anything, let us know. There’s a cooking pot outside at everyone’s disposal, and we will supply you with water for the desert.”

The kind woman left the family in the corner they’d claimed, and Tilieth sighed a little, looking down at Link. Then she centered herself and smiled. “I can make good use of that cooking pot! We’ll have some good meals in no time. How does soup sound?”

“It sounds lovely,” Abel replied with a small smile, eyes still scanning the area.

“Try to relax!” Tilieth insisted eagerly, brushing her hand against his cheek. “This is a great opportunity to rest and—”

Well, she was about to say ‘mingle,’ but Abel was hardly the mingler. Tilieth couldn’t really call herself an extrovert, but between the pair Abel was definitely the major introvert. She used to drag him around during village festivals, forcing him to interact with everyone.

Abel raised an eyebrow at her abrupt stop, and she chuckled. “Well, maybe just spend time with Link. You don’t have to talk to anyone. You might scare them, anyway!”

Her husband huffed, settling on the floor beside Link’s bed. He automatically reached for Tilieth’s pouch, likely about to fiddle with armor or weapons, when he stopped himself, remembering the stable’s rule. Then he plopped the bag on the bed, looking grumpy.

Tilieth laughed at him. “Do you think you can handle this difficult assignment?”

“It might be the toughest of my career,” he grumbled, leaning his head against the bedpost and closing his eyes. Tilieth, filled with bubbling energy, suddenly lunged forward, pulling his bandana below his eyes with a laugh. Abel yelped, surprised, and swatted at her as she ran towards the entrance to cook, cackling the entire way.

As she happily plopped herself at the cooking pot with the ingredients she’d grabbed from her pouch, she caught sight of Niamo and waved at him. “Hello! I just wanted to say sorry again for my husband yesterday – he really is a good man, he’s just jumpy.”

Niamo nodded with a small smile.

“So, Firis says you stay here and help with relations with the Gerudo?” Tilieth asked, tossing ingredients into the broth she’d just poured.

Niamo shrugged. “Here and there.”

“What… what are the Gerudo like?” she continued, suddenly a little hesitant. She already knew, but it really just dawned on her that she’d never met a Gerudo before. She’d heard about the Champion Urbosa, of course, and Link had mentioned the desert in his letters to her, but it wasn’t the same… especially given how much time had passed.

Sheik and Impa had said it was safe, though.

Niamo’s smile grew a little strained. “They’re excellent warriors. It depends on what you need. And what they need.”

“My husband and I were trying to reach Gerudo Town,” Tilieth explained. “Our son… well, we just wanted to find somewhere safe for a while. I… suppose we could stay here, too.”

“You would have to,” Niamo replied, stretching and moving to walk away. “They won’t help your husband or son.”

Tilieth jolted a little. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, stop that,” another man interjected, pushing Niamo a little before smiling reassuringly at Tilieth. “They help everyone. He’s just saying that because they may not allow your husband or son entry into their city. Men aren’t allowed in Gerudo Town.”

So they… really did still have that rule? Despite everything?

Tilieth fretted the matter a little, asking, “So… so my family… we can’t go to the Gerudo?”

“I bet if you talk to them they’d figure something out,” the other man answered. “And, if nothing else, Niamo or I could strike a deal. We have… strong relations with the Gerudo. Helps keep the stable maintained. Mutual benefit kind of thing. Point is, we could probably help you out too.”

Oh, what a relief! Tilieth let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, and happily went back to cooking, ecstatic that there were Hylians who were willing to help each other. She did worry a little about this issue with the Gerudo, but it couldn’t be that bad, right? Especially if these men seemed to be on good terms with them. Not to mention Abel could probably speak to them about his role as a knight and royal guard, about who Link was – surely that would help them.

Everything was going to work out. She just knew it.

Tilieth heard footsteps behind her as the soup bubbled, nearly ready. She turned to see Abel exiting, Link in his arms.

“Oh, love,” she said softly as he approached. “Why are—we’re not nearly ready to leave, you had mentioned resting—”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he replied quietly. “Link’s awake. I just wanted him to see the outside and not lay around.”

Oh! Tilieth sprang up to see their boy gazing at the sky before his eyes slowly moved to stare blankly at Abel’s shoulder, where his head was leaning against. She kissed him, feeling him flinch a little in response, before glancing up at Abel. “I… they were talking about how the Gerudo don’t allow men in their city.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Abel assured easily.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out,” Tilieth sighed, though Abel’s casual confidence was a reassurance. “But anyway! The soup is almost ready. Just wait.”

And with that, she dashed back to the cooking pot, leaving the former knight chuckling in her wake.

Abel swayed gently back and forth, his legs and arms a little sore as he carried Link against his chest to give the boy a break from the harness. His wife hummed merrily in whatever tune she desired, completely off pitch from what he assumed she was trying to parrot. He smiled at it.

"Okay, try this," she said with a grin, holding out a spoon with a steaming stew sloshing around in it.

Abel tipped forward, letting his wife put the spoon against his lips, and he sipped a little. Letting it swirl in his mouth, he made a little face, scrunching his nose. "It needs more salt."

Til rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's just you and your preferences. You like everything salty. Link isn't like that!"

Licking his lips a little, the former knight dipped in, giving his wife a kiss. He felt her irritation slip out of her easily as the two tasted each other a moment, and then he pulled away, raising an eyebrow at her.

His wife's face soured.

"Fine," she begrudgingly admitted. "It needs more salt."

Abel smiled triumphantly as she huffed and went back to the cooking pot. Chuckling, he looked down at his boy and gave him a quick peck on the forehead. "You're welcome, Link."

The teenager sighed a little, shifting his head, eyes seeming to track something. Abel glanced up to see a bird, but when he looked back at his son, Link’s eyes were glazed once more.

He really did seem to be improving. Abel took comfort in it as best he could.

But he did have to ponder what was coming, as Tilieth brought up a good point. A part of him had considered the Gerudo’s rule about men, but he’d hoped they would make an exception for Link, given his state. It had been a silly thought, he supposed… but with as skinny and frail as the boy looked, it wouldn’t take much to wrap him in shawls and hide his face, either.

Abel knew he himself would have no such luck, but he wasn’t going to share that with Tilieth. He’d let her lead up to this point, and… he still didn’t know if separating was the best idea, but he much preferred she stay somewhere safe with Link while he figured things out, if need be.

Not to mention there were still so many shrines in the area. Abel could stay at the stable if necessary while mapping the area so they could easily get from place to place. He wished Link didn’t have to be present to unlock the blasted things.

As much as he did not wish to admit it, Abel knew his anxiety was steadily increasing as they continued, and he knew he would likely start to unravel again if they couldn’t figure something more efficient out. Tilieth’s original plan had been a promising one.

He wondered if there was a way to at least activate the shrines without his son. That would make things so much easier – he could take the Sheikah slate to multiple shrines much faster, and then they could simply teleport there with the boy and knock out several at once.

It was an option to consider, at least. But he would need to test theories to see how he could make it work. How sensitive was this ancient technology and magic? What did it detect about Link that activated it? Was it the fabled Hero’s Spirit that his child carried, or something else? It had to be his spirit, right? But how could it detect that?

Typically Link had to physically touch the shrine with the slate to activate it. He wondered if something from the boy would work just as well, such as a lock of hair. Abel sat on the ground, glancing around briefly in a familiar anxious survey of threats in the area, before focusing more on his son. Link’s head was tilted in a little, eyes staring blankly at the patterns on Abel’s new tunic. His fingers twitched a little, and he wrinkled his nose when sand blew into his face a bit. Abel marveled at it a moment before smiling fondly and wiping his son’s face gently.

He reached into his own pouch to find the knife he typically hid in there, and he carefully held a long lock of the boy’s hair, slicing the edge off. As he put the knife away, Tilieth came over, disposition chipper, and she plopped down in front of them with several bottles full of her delicious stew.

She handed Abel a serving, and he thanked her as she turned her attention to their son.

“Link, baby, I have something important I need to tell you,” Tilieth whispered as she stroked her son’s hair. Clearing her throat, she continued solemnly, “What do you call a well-balanced horse?”

Link turned his head dazedly, his brow furrowing slightly as if he were trying to follow along, but eventually seemed to settle back to resting against his father.

“Stable.”

Abel snorted, especially at the strained smile on his wife’s face, because he knew how painful these jokes were for her. Although it didn’t draw a laugh from their half conscious boy, it warmed his heart that Til was at least trying.

Abel tipped the bowl against his lips, drinking the stew since his other hand was full supporting Link, and Tilieth slowly took over caring for their son as she fed him. Her mirth simmered into a warm comfort instead as she smiled at the teenager, and she looked back at Abel once more. “You have to try to rest, okay? If we’re going to be crossing the desert in the evening, we both need to.”

“I know,” he said quietly, finishing lunch. “I’ve been resting.”

“You’ve been anxiously watching everyone.”

“Til, it’s been a few hours since we got here.”

Til bit the inside of her cheek, clearly uncertain. “Well, rest some more. I’ll be awake, and then you can watch while I take a nap in the afternoon.”

“It nearly is afternoon.”

“Oh, stop arguing, I just want to make sure you’re fine!” Til huffed halfheartedly.

Finishing his soup, Abel kissed her on the cheek, gently transferring Link from his lap to hers. “Fine. But come inside with me, I don’t want you out here alone if I’m sleeping.”

He let her carry Link into the tent after finishing his food, and Abel helped her lay the boy back on the bed. He looked around the stable out of habit, and noticed that, despite it being noon, the other travelers were still huddled in a curtained off bed. Unless they’d moved and left the curtains closed, but he hadn’t seen anyone new.

Tilieth was going to comment that he could relax when she traced his gaze, muttering, “Poor things must be exhausted, didn’t Firis say they fell asleep nearly as soon as they got here? I… I wonder if that was who… it must have been, but she hadn’t seemed all that tired. Oh—Oh! Oh, heavens – that Hinox! It was blocking the only way into this canyon, wasn’t it? It’s no wonder that poor mother and daughter are so worn down—you don’t think they’re hurt, do you? I wonder how they even got passed it.”

Abel glanced between his wife and the occupied, sequestered bed. Wariness shifted subtly into anxiety and dread. “Stay here, okay?”

“Abel?”

“Just… just stay here.”

Abel rose and walked away from his wife and son, heart growing steadily heavier, sinking into his stomach. The Hinox had no injuries when he’d faced it. It was quite possible the woman rode in and rushed by the beast. But there were other possibilities too, and considering she hadn’t stirred since yesterday…

The former knight swallowed as he paused in front of the closed curtain. He heard sniffling, alongside soft, wheezing breaths.

Slowly, he opened the curtain, expecting to see what his mind had already concluded.

The woman laying in bed was almost motionless, chest barely rising. The girl in her arms was the one making the wheezing noises, too weak to move out of her mother’s embrace. Honestly, Abel found himself surprised but still mentally preparing – he’d figured the woman had to have died without anyone realizing, but it seemed she still had a few moments left. He didn’t see anything major, but…

Bruising around the eyes. He remembered that sign, as well as the bruising behind her ears. Head injury.

Abel let out a slow, slow breath before turning his attention to the girl wheezing in her dying mother’s arms.

He heard scuffing of crutches and a dragging foot as one of the other tenants, Moya, approached. He half expected a hysterical response. Instead, the woman furrowed her brow, examining the pair.

“Shit,” she muttered.

“Oh, what are you two doing? Are the guests awake?” Firis called from the front.

Moya glanced at Abel, whose eyes hadn’t left the little girl, and then she watched her too. “Not much we can do for the mom. I’ll tell Firis. Maybe we have some medical supplies for the kid.”

No, there was nothing they could do for the mother. Nothing short of a fairy would heal her, as her breath rattled agonally, as the last wisps of life left her.

Nothing short of a fairy. A fairy.

Abel blinked. Didn’t… didn’t Tilieth collect a fairy or two from Kakariko? She did – he remembered saying they should save it as an absolute last resort.

He couldn’t… he couldn’t use it on this stranger…

What am I thinking? He asked himself, disgusted and horrified. But he had to be practical too, this woman was nearly dead anyway, and—

Abel’s breaths became faster, heart screaming against his mind, and he moved hastily back to Tilieth. “The fairy. I need the fairy.”

Tilieth stared, confused, registering his words and looking him over. “You need—?”

“The fairy!” Abel snapped, reaching for her pouch, sifting through the large interior to find a glowing bottle.

“Abel—”

He found the item in question, running back to the bed, wondering if he’d actually lost his mind, if this was even worth it, and uncorked the bottle as he got to the dying woman. He examined her carefully as the fairy hovered over her, wondering if it was already too late, if the little magical creature would flee into the canyon and he would have wasted one of their most precious resources.

The fairy hovered and started to float upward, as if ready to depart. Abel stiffened, about to try to catch it again—they couldn’t afford to lose it.

But instead, the fairy started to circle the woman slowly before picking up its pace, letting pink dust settled over the bed as it hummed. It zipped away quickly afterward, and Abel didn’t have time to reach for it.

The woman groaned.

“You got fairies?” Moya asked.

Abel tensed up immediately, eyes boring into her, and the woman huffed a little, half smiling and holding up a hand. “Easy, buddy. You a soldier or something?”

He didn’t answer, returning his attention to the mother, saying, “You need to get supplies for the girl.”

Moya nodded, shuffling towards the front. “Right.”

Abel felt his heart ramming against his chest, anxious at having utilized a fairy and making someone else aware he had such precious resources. But he… he also…

He felt relieved. He was able to… he’d helped someone.

Hylia, he’d forgotten what that felt like.

The mother’s eyes fluttered open, and she gasped a little, clutching her daughter closer. “Reila! Reila, honey, I—oh, why do I feel—wh-who are you?”

Tilieth rushed over at this point, gasping. “Oh my goodness! Are you alright?”

Abel backed off as Firis and her husband ran to their aid with medical supplies for the child, and he slowly moved back to Link, letting the rest of the stable gather around the travelers. He’d done what he could, and it was getting too crowded, and he needed to watch Link, anxiety and gratitude and happiness and dread making him feel a little nauseous.

But he’d helped her. He’d saved her life.

But now that woman Moya knew they carried rare items. What if Link wasn’t safe?

He’d saved her life.

Did that really erase the killing he’d already done so far?

But he’d helped someone.

Abel took a shaky breath, hand going to his child’s and squeezing it as he watched the commotion unfold. The mother was worriedly asking for help for her daughter, and Abel’s heart went out to her, despite his conflicting emotions.

He wouldn’t use the other fairy, though. He couldn’t. The child looked worn down and dehydrated, but not dying like the woman had been. He couldn’t waste anything else.

It wasn’t a waste and you know it.

No… he thought as he watched the mother tend to her child. Perhaps it wasn’t.

XXX

The stable had been abuzz since Abel had recognized the reason the other travelers had rested so long was simply because they were downright dying. The mother, Elba, had thanked him about a hundred times, leaving him feeling a confusing mix of uncomfortable and pleasant. Tilieth had immediately pitched in to assist Elba as much as possible with her daughter, who was severely undernourished and exhausted and ill, but the stable had a surprising amount of medical supplies for her.

Tilieth had advised Abel to get some rest, but he’d hardly slept with all the excitement. He figured him and his wife would just be up all day and night, unfortunately. But the sooner they left this place, the better. They were strange, too well supplied for being in the middle of nowhere, and now they knew that he and Tilieth had fairies and other commodities.

He was thankful he could help the mother and her child, though.

Still, evening was fast approaching, and he’d finally convinced Tilieth to take a nap. He’d wait a little while longer before rousing her and heading out. He’d packed what little she’d pulled out of her pouch, and he already had the makeshift harness on his back, ready for Link.

He watched everyone in the stable a little while longer before finally nudging his wife, who stirred. “Til, we need to go. The sun is setting.”

Tilieth hummed, only half awake, but it didn’t take much to get her up. She rubbed her face as he quickly strapped Link to the harness. When Tilieth noticed he was already holding their son and her pouch, she blinked her eyes a few times, standing.

“Do we have to leave already?” She mumbled. “I was hoping we could let Elba and her daughter come with us.”

“No,” Abel immediately said firmly. He didn’t trust the mother that much. Besides… “Her daughter is in no condition to travel. They can take care of her here.”

Tilieth sighed, stretching. “I suppose you’re right. But I just… it’s so odd.”

Abel paused. “What is?”

“Well, the girl I saw yesterday wasn’t… oh well. It doesn’t matter.”

Abel had a strange feeling it might, but Tilieth was prone to fixating on silly things sometimes. They had to focus on their travel now. And he… had come up with a few different ideas for when they reached Gerudo Town.

He doubted he’d be allowed entry. He had wondered, considering how the Sheikah spoke of the safety of the Gerudo. But he didn’t need to be in the city, really – he hoped this place offered the kind of protection that would leave him feeling more comfortable leaving Tilieth and Link while he explored the area and ascertained if he could open the shrines without his boy. It would make going to them far easier – they could teleport from place to place without hauling Link across half the country. Abel would do the legwork.

If it worked, he could probably just let Tilieth and Link stay in Kakariko, honestly. The only reason he didn’t send them back right now was that he’d have to cover an impractical amount of ground to get back to newer territory if the slate didn’t help, and the horses couldn’t teleport with them.

But it was just a theory, a sliver of a hope. He’d have to test it. And they had to get to Gerudo Town in one piece. The desert was a cruel land, after all, whether it was day or night.

Abel recalled, unfortunately that horses didn’t do the best out in the desert. They didn’t tolerate the heat well, and the sands were infested with beasts, included the dreaded moldugas, if one wandered off the main path. He had no idea what the desert would look like now, ten years after the world ended, but the horses would be safer staying here.

They had a long walk ahead of them.

“Let’s go,” he said quietly, trying not to attract too much attention. He had spoken with Brecken, the shyer of the two who ran the stable, and notably the one who would make less of a fuss when asked to watch the horses. Brecken asked no questions, and Abel was thankful for it.

Tilieth asked as they exited, “Why are you turning right? We need to get our horses, Abel.”

“It isn’t safe for them. We used to be able to ride to the oasis but I don’t know if it’s even around anymore,” Abel explained. “I offered one of your opals, told him it had water magic. It was certainly the most valuable thing we had.”

Til nodded, looking back anxiously, before reaching for Abel’s hand. The pair walked together, heading towards the end of the canyon, where Abel could barely make out in the progressively darkening land the faintest outline of buildings up ahead.

Gerudo Town. He’d nearly forgotten it was visible from the canyon, having only ever seen it once.

It really was still there. And—

“Look!” Tilieth pointed eagerly. “A shrine!”

Perfect.

Abel smiled, squeezing his wife’s hand, feeling Link’s hair tickle his neck as his boy’s head rested against his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Blood of the Hero Ch 20 (Link’s Parents Play BotW)

Summary: The Soul of the Hero will always be there to save Hyrule. But when Calamity Ganon is nearly victorious in killing him, it's those that bear the Blood of the Hero who will prevail. Ten years after the Great Calamity, the Shrine of Resurrection is damaged and Link's parents fight to save their son and Hyrule along with him

AO3 link

The Mighty Gerudo - Warriors of the Desert

Abel had forgotten how cold the desert could get.

It wasn’t too terrible – Mount Hylia and the area around the River of the Dead was frigid almost year round, and Tilieth and Abel had accommodated well enough with warm doublets, but they typically avoided that area because of the cold.

At least it wasn’t the damp chill of the snowy mountain. Still, Abel did feel his nose and the tips of his ears start to throb.

He and Tilieth both had put doublets on, bundling Link instead in the extra tunic Tilieth had made for Abel, leaving Link layered sufficiently. Still, the boy sniffled, body tensing a little, turning his head so it faced towards his father, burying his face in Abel’s neck.

Abel turned at it a little, surprised. Although Link was certainly becoming more responsive to his environment, that had been far more movement than he’d demonstrated… ever.

“Are you okay?” Tilieth asked, having missed what had happened.

Abel watched Link a moment longer, the frost from his breath coalescing around his boy’s hair, and he smiled a little, kissing his forehead. “I’m fine. We’re fine.”

They continued on, and Abel was thankful that the moon was nearly full, illuminating the desert. The two didn’t dare make any noise, barely whispering to each other if they were advising to watch the other’s step, dreading attracting attention. There was more danger in traveling at night, and Abel was frankly surprised they hadn’t run into any stal monsters yet, but it was better in the long run with the heat.

As they continued, Tilieth pointed to a large rock that was growing ever closer, and Abel was fairly certain it was the site of the oasis. There used to be a thriving marketplace there, one of the largest trading hubs in all of Hyrule. It was as far into the desert as he’d ever gone, and he remembered thinking Tilieth would love to see it someday.

A wave of bitterness and strange nostalgia slammed into him, at the memory of the innocent passing thought, of how Tilieth was indeed going to see it but in far different circumstances.

But he pushed it aside, recalling what Link had just done earlier in the night, trying to focus on how things were improving rather than the vast difference between before the Calamity and now.

Tilieth shivered a little, and Abel glanced up at the path of the moon, at the color of the night sky. It seemed to be nearly midnight, and he feared the oasis might be abandoned. Surely it wasn’t, not if the stable supposedly traded with the Gerudo, unless the warriors came all the way to the canyon. He hoped there was some kind of shelter there – although they had planned to travel all night, they—

Abel felt his wife poke him incessantly, and he turned towards her, tensing up, expecting her to have noticed a threat.

Instead, she pointed somewhere off to their left, and Abel squinted to see what it was. It looked like part of the mountains that bordered the desert, but the shape was bizarre, and unnatural and…

Oh. Oh.

Goddess.

It was a Divine Beast. It had to be.

Vah Naboris, the ancient Sheikah monolith that was piloted by Chief Urbosa.

It looked like a mausoleum from here, sitting in eery silence as it tore a silhouette into the night sky. Abel felt a shiver run down his spine.

They had to keep moving.

Anxiety and dread filled Abel to his core, and he snaked his hand around Tilieth’s wrist, pulling her along. His eyes had long adjusted to the darker setting, and he was now fervently scanning the area. They had to be close to the oasis by now, based on the rock formation he’d noticed earlier.

“Abel, what is it?” Tilieth tried to ask, but Abel didn’t respond, moving faster despite how carrying Link for hours was starting to wear him down a little.

He felt entirely exposed out here all of a sudden.

The couple moved for a good while at this pace, but Abel knew he couldn’t maintain it much longer. It felt like no matter how close they got to the supposed oasis, it was never close enough. Were they even heading the right way?

Abel sighed, slowing down, trying to not let himself panic too much. They’d nearly been walking a straight path. Worst case scenario, they could turn around and head back. It wasn’t like the canyon was easy to miss. As he glanced around, doing a little circle to see everything, he noticed the Divine Beast again, motionless, and couldn’t help but stare.

He’d never really known what had happened to the Champions, but considering how the guardians had been corrupted, he’d suspected what the end result had been.

It wasn’t moving. That meant it was deactivated… right?

Abel swallowed, but his throat was dry. He took a steadying breath, eyes searching again for the rock that he knew was protruding from the oasis. It wasn’t far at all now.

“We’re almost there,” he promised.

Focused and growing more anxious, Abel led his wife along a straight path, but the sand fought them every step of the way. He finally reached a point after what felt like another hour where he had to stop to catch his breath.

Tilieth turned to him to ask if he was alright, when the ground rumbled around them. Abel cursed, drawing his sword just in time to see a stalfos bursting from the sand.

Tilieth held out the slate. “Abel, stand back!”

He didn’t bother arguing, stepping aside quickly as she generated a bomb, tossing it at the beast. Abel and Tilieth both hastily stumbled backwards to avoid the blast range as she set it off. Abel watched the beast’s bones shatter in an instant.

The one good thing about the stal monsters was that they were easily defeated.

Tilieth blew out a relieved sigh. “Well, at least we handled tha—EEK!”

Abel tensed, looking around wildly only to see the stal’s head bouncing towards them, jaw chomping loudly. He chuckled a little, stabbing his sword into its skull, and watched as it faded into dust. “Did you forget they do that?”

“I’m not usually fighting monsters at night!” Tilieth pointed out, voice still high from being so startled. It rang into the night air, and Abel put a hand up to calm her.

Just as his heart rate started to settle, the pair turned to head back towards the towering rock at the oasis when the ground shook again.

“Another one?” Tilieth asked, voice shaking a little, though her hands on the slate were steady.

Abel remained quiet, feeling ice fill his veins. The way the sands shifted was not minor, nor was it localized. The entire area was trembling, and he detected movement to the side. Vah Naboris was still as a stone, but something was shifting alongside the sands far in front of it, a large lump that was steadily heading their way.

Shit.

“Give me the slate and take Link,” Abel said, eyes wide as he tracked the movement.

“What?”

“Now, Til!” he hissed as quietly as he could, unstrapping the harness and stepping towards his wife.

Tilieth hastily obeyed, shifting and grunting a little as she took on Link’s weight. Abel snatched the slate from her before she could really hold it out. “Abel, what’s wrong?”

“It’s a beast,” he explained hastily. “Much worse than a stal. I need you to head towards the oasis, now.”

“What about—”

“Now!” he repeated, shoving her towards the oasis before running another way.

The large movement sped up towards the pair, and Tilieth gasped, finally listening as she ran in the opposite direction of Abel. He quickly accessed the slate, pulling out a bomb and throwing it to cause more ruckus and get the molduga’s attention.

You’re going to die.

This wasn’t how this night was supposed to go. What the hell was a molduga doing so close to the oasis?! He’d never heard of them being this near the canyon!!

You have to get to solid ground or you’re going to die.

He wasn’t going to die, he refused. He’d faced beasts of monumental size before. Just because he’d never fought a molduga in his life didn’t mean he couldn’t defeat one now.

With your pitiful weapons cache? And your level of fatigue? And the poor lighting?

This thing had the advantage of hiding in the sands. He had to draw it out.

Throwing the bomb, Abel froze, letting it continue to roll, attracting the beast. But it also noticed Tilieth’s movements, far more chaotic and obvious than a rolling ball, and it turned to head her way.

Abel swore and then started yelling, setting off the bomb. The beast shifted back towards him, and he saw Tilieth freeze for a moment.

“Keep going!” he yelled.

The molduga was getting disturbingly close as he pulled out another bomb, blinking at the brightness of it and trying to focus on the beast. He rolled it directly towards the creature, and he was about to set it off when the thing finally emerged, leaping high into the air and nearly burying Abel in sand. The bomb glowed high in the sky before nearly sinking into its mouth.

Abel gasped, coughing out sand, and activated the slate.

The molduga shrieked, jerking in midair as it fell to its side, and Abel stared a moment before dashing forward, sword in hand. He cut at its face and large eye as much as he could, but the thing’s hide was so thick, it clearly did little damage. It rolled after a moment of being stunned, and though Abel saw the cuts he’d made were bleeding, it hardly seemed to have slowed the beast down as it started to move towards him, mouth massive. Abel stumbled away, realizing he might not be fast enough with as exhausted as he was already, and the large creature’s tail did indeed sweep over in time to slam into him, sending him flying.

Abel heard the wind whistle as his body screamed in pain, as the moon and stars shifted in and out of vision in a dizzying fashion, before the ground finally made contact with him, back first, and sent him tumbling down a dune. He couldn’t help the yell that escaped his lips, and the wind was entirely knocked out of him after that. He laid there a moment, dizzy and breathless, utterly stunned for a few seconds before his mind screamed to get up.

He heard a sound, distinct, like a hiss filled with magic and power. It had to be a fire arrow.

Tilieth.

Goddess, no, she needed to run!!

Abel finally scrambled to his feet, looking around, disoriented, and then finally saw the beast moving towards a reddish light, and he faintly made out Tilieth’s face glowing behind the fire arrow she had drawn back.

Gritting his teeth, he ran back towards the group, setting off multiple bombs just in time for the beast to finally turn back his way. Tilieth stood there regardless, remaining motionless, and he didn’t have the breath to command her to continue. Perhaps it was for the best that she didn’t move, but he wasn’t entirely convinced he’d be successful in this fight.

He hardly had the energy to think about that, though, as he tried to lure the beast with the explosive bait he’d used earlier. He barely even noticed he was limping.

The molduga blasted out of the sand once more, and Abel detonated the bomb it was reaching for, stunning the beast once more. He heard it cry out, and this time he tried his own bow and arrows, firing a few just as Tilieth also fired her fire arrow she’d been holding. This seemed the safer route, allowing Abel to keep distance, but it was a far weaker attack overall, though the fire arrows seemed to cause some damage. It didn’t seem nearly as effective as his sword had, though.

He finally caught his breath, though, and ordered Tilieth to continue heading for the oasis. She knew better than to argue out loud, but he could still see her hesitating.

For the love of Hylia, RUN! He wanted to scream at her, why couldn’t she see he was trying to distract the molduga—

Air was cut by another arrow, and Abel felt pressure resonate in his chest as something exploded against the beast.

…A bomb arrow?

He heard a barking cry, and then another, and he turned to see strange movement along the sand. It looked like smaller beasts, but they were towing something, and—

Sand seals. Sand seals. Towing—towing people—

The Gerudo.

“Get back!” one of the women shouted as the molduga recovered, burrowing into the sands once more.

Abel didn’t bother arguing, stumbling up the dune that he’d nearly tripped down, watching the two warriors circle the beast. He finally felt his legs give out, and he fell flat on his backside, panting for air.

He wasn’t going to be useless, though, not when he wasn’t sure two Gerudo were enough to handle this without serious injury. He brought out another bomb from the slate, rolling it down the dune. Thankfully, predictably, the molduga still was curious enough about it, as it grew closer than the Gerudo were allowing the beast to reach them, and he set it off just as it emerged.

The Gerudo closed in, slashing at the beast as Abel fired arrows at it. Their movements were fierce but quick, and they seemed to back away before the molduga had properly recovered. They were clear to fire their bomb arrows, though, as their sand seals seemed capable of steering without direction.

The molduga finally cried out, writhing in pain from all the repeated hits, and its head and tail collapsed against the ground, creating an enormous dust cloud before the world grew silent.

Abel sighed heavily in relief, leaning back to lay in the sand, catching his breath. He heard one of the sand seals approach him, heard Tilieth calling out in the far distance. He tensed up a bit, but tried not to be too belligerent as he saw one of them come into view.

The Sheikah trusted the Gerudo, and they had been helping the Hylians at the stable. Abel knew he had plenty of reasons to trust them, it was why he was heading to their city, but his body automatically tensed up anyway.

“Where are you hurt?” The Gerudo asked.

Abel watched her a moment, silent more from exhaustion than mistrust, before he finally said, “I don’t think I’m injured too badly, just a little fatigued.”

“You should not be wandering the desert,” the woman continued. “The sands are not as peaceful as they once were, even on the main path.”

Were they even on the main path anymore? Abel shook the thought aside. “We—”

“Abel!”

Sitting up fully, Abel saw his wife hobbling over as quickly as she could while carrying Link, so he hastily shot to his feet and ran to meet her halfway. Tilieth was wheezing in the dry cold, and Link was coughing enough that Abel hurriedly took his bandana off and tied it around the boy’s face to help moisten the air he inhaled and filter out the kicked up dust.

“Are you okay?” they immediately asked each other at the same time, simultaneously trying to breathlessly reassure each other and worry, until the Gerudo finally caught up to them.

“What are you doing out here?” the other guard asked, voice a little higher in concern.

“We—we were trying to get to Gerudo Town,” Tilieth hastily explained.

“No Hylian has been to Gerudo Town in years,” the first guard noted, crossing her arms. “And Voe are strictly forbidden.”

“Hylians have died out here, and your child is sick—” the other one started before cutting herself off, gaze shifting somewhere between Link and somewhere else.

Abel looked between the two, trying to find the right way to phrase this. “The Sheikah advised us that it would be safer in your settlement than anywhere else in the area. I… I know that I am not allowed inside. But my wife and—”

“Your daughter, yes,” the second guard nodded, stepping forward. “She seems quite ill. Perhaps the stable doesn’t have adequate supplies. We can escort you to Gerudo Town, but I fear the journey might be too long for you to continue tonight.”

Abel blinked, caught off guard, glancing back at Link. His boy was so frail and skinny he could pass for a girl, he supposed, especially with his face hidden by the bandana. He looked back at the guards, the first one seeming less happy with the plan but the second now looking adamant. He felt equal parts relieved and anxious at it. “We… should continue tonight. We’ll fare better in the chill than the heat.”

“We could supply you with hydromelons,” the first guard noted. “You could rest and continue in the morning, with fewer monsters active.”

Abel didn’t really want to waste much more time, but he also knew he probably couldn’t make it through the night, despite the rest. That fight with the molduga had worn him out. Still, he left it up to Tilieth, gauging her reaction.

She looked unhappy.

Oh, yes. He hadn’t quite discussed that he’d decided to split up with her.

“If it’s… amenable to you, let’s get to the oasis before we decide,” Abel finally said.

“Very well,” the first guard agreed, glancing at her companion before leading the way. “It isn’t far. We’ll be there in minutes.”

Well, at least he’d been right about that.

As soon as the guards were a few paces ahead, Tilieth immediately came up to his side, hissing, “Abel, what are you doing?”

“Following your original plan,” he replied quietly. “Til, I… I know we… after everything that happened… look. I want what’s best for Link. And the best thing I can think of is finding a more efficient way of doing this. I don’t plan on going across the country like we originally mentioned—that ship has sailed, love, we cannot fix the Shrine of Resurrection, and as it is, the other shrines seem to be helping well enough. But we can’t maintain this pace, either, nor continue to risk Link’s life by dragging him through dangerous territory when we can hardly protect him. I… I just want to scout the area for shrines, to figure out if there’s a way to at least activate them without needing Link physically with us. If I can do that, we can use the slate to teleport to different places with him. It’ll be far faster and safer that way.”

Tilieth watched him worriedly, eyes distant as she gazed across the sands, considering it, but she didn’t seem to agree with the idea.

“Give me a week,” Abel said appeasingly, facing her more fully as the pair paused. “Just one week, to explore, to experiment. I trust that isn’t asking for much.”

Tilieth sighed.

The guards called out to them to continue, and the couple stayed silent until they reached the oasis. The sound of water lapping brought more relief than Abel thought he’d feel, and he quickly relieved Tilieth of carrying their son, allowing her to venture further into the area.

Kara Kara Bazaar was little more than a tent and the large rocky structure that had stood proudly in the desert for years. Abel remembered the thriving marketplace that used to be here, and he felt a lot emptier, relief forgotten.

“Rest,” one of the guards ordered. “Whether or not you decide to continue, you must recover your strength for a little while.”

Abel noticed one of the guards, the one who had agreed they should go to the town, watching him and Link, and he shifted, growing steadily more wary.

She noticed his change in posture, and she sighed, approaching him as the other helped Tilieth. “You have nothing to fear, voe. I… I agree that Gerudo Town is safer for your… your family.”

Then she pulled her mask down, smiling a little as she tilted her head to the side. “The resemblance is striking, even with a pretty scarf around his—ah, her face. But I did not realize you had a little one before the Calamity.”

Abel inhaled sharply through his nose, eyes widening a little.

“I saw the slate,” the guard pointed out. “I know who you are, even if you are using an alias. It is safer for your family in Gerudo Town than at the stable. I must say, though… I knew Hylian voe were frail, but I did not expect you to age so poorly, Champion.”

Abel blinked. Blinked again. Wait.

Wait, what?

“I, uh…” Abel stammered to a halt as his mind tried to catch up with his mouth, stopping himself from correcting her.

But really, did the Gerudo know that little of men? Abel did not look that young. Link physically should be close to thirty, not fifty.

He should just take it as a compliment and be thankful it kept the scrutiny off Link. With as covered in sand as he was, he supposed it covered a host of evils. Though… Abel glanced back at his son briefly, wondering if with as malnourished as Link was he really did look close to a ten-year-old.

Either that, or the Gerudo had no idea how old Link had been during the Calamity and assumed he’d already had children.

Wait. She had mentioned that. She probably thought Link was somewhere around twelve or thirteen, then.

This woman’s logic left much to be desired, but he wasn’t going to argue with the results. Nor her kindness.

But he was still baffled at the Gerudo’s ideas on Hylians.

…Perhaps the night also hid a lot of things.

“The times have been difficult,” he finally said, wondering how the hell he’d pulled this off accidentally.

“The moonlight makes your hair look downright grey,” the woman huffed.

…That was because it was greying. But he wouldn’t correct her.

“Where have you been, Champion? What of the Calamity, the princess?”

Abel swallowed, slowly lowering Link to the ground. “Li—I… I was… grievously wounded. I could not continue fighting. The Sheikah rescued me, and it’s taken me this long to recover. Princess Zelda is… is holding off the Calamity at the castle. I’ve been traveling Hyrule in order to recover my strength and seek out the other…”

He paused, not really sure what to say, what to lie about, anything really. But he did have to ask, “Champion Urbosa… is she truly dead? I… suspected, with the attacks, but…”

“My aunt is dead,” the woman replied with a heavy voice. “Vah Naboris rampaged during the time of the Calamity, and then it has fallen silent as a tomb since the Golden Night. We’ve been unable to access it. Now I know what caused it, at least.”

Abel felt a jolt of surprise tear through his body, and then he sobered. “My condolences.”

The woman nodded, looking away. “I do not know the fates of the other Champions. I thought all of you had perished. Perhaps you will find others who survived. But in the meantime, if you seek refuge in the desert, I will protect your family. I cannot allow you entry into the city, though.”

“I understand,” Abel said hastily, holding up an appeasing hand. “Please, I… I’m just thankful you’re willing to help them.”

“Abel, there’s so much water here!” Tilieth noted as she rushed over, cheeks flushed with relief. “I already restocked our water pouches, and it’s so crisp and tastes wonderful!”

“That’s good,” Abel acknowledged with a smile. “We’ve rested long enough, I think. How long of a walk is it to Gerudo Town?”

“It’s a six hour walk,” the Gerudo answered. “The sun will be rising before we reach there, but the heat should not be too terrible. Do you wish to proceed? I still recommend resting.”

Abel shook his head. “We slept most of the day in preparation for this. We can continue.”

“Very well,” the woman nodded. “Areja will stay here. I will escort you.”

The other guard, Areja looked hesitant. “Fasoora, we should go together. Nighttime is more dangerous.”

“It’ll be fine,” the fallen Champion’s niece waved a dismissive hand. “Someone must guard the oasis.”

Abel wasn’t really sure what there was to guard at this point, seeing as it didn’t seem to be much of a trading hub anymore, but he didn’t care. It meant the other guard, who was not aware that Link was a boy, would not be involved.

The group proceeded at a brisk pace once the Gerudo had ensured the couple shared an elixir to revitalize themselves, and Abel made sure to stay behind the woman. Tilieth supplied him with some water, which he happily drank, and she whispered, “Abel, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean… you said we’d be able to convince them to let you enter as well!”

“As I said, we need to find a more efficient way of doing this,” Abel reiterated. “Give me a week, Til. Just to figure things out. And… and if I’m not back by then...”

He supposed that was the issue. He couldn’t guarantee their safety in Gerudo Town if something were to go wrong. If he left her the slate to make a quick escape, it defeated the entire purpose of his expedition. But…

“Tilieth, I just need you to be alert,” he said quietly, brow heavy, eyes worried. “If anything seems off… you’ll have to find a way to leave with Link. I’m… I’m trying to be trusting, so please, be a little wary for me?”

“You want me to leave if you’re not back in a week?” Tilieth repeated, voice shaking a little. “But Abel—”

“I want you to leave if you suspect there’s danger,” Abel corrected. “But expect me back in a week.”

“And if you’re not back?”

“I will be,” he replied firmly. “I promise.”

Tilieth bit her lip uncertainly, but the longer the couple walked, the less they spoke as their exhaustion truly did start to overtake them. Abel focused all his energy on just continuing, drinking some more water and thankfully taking some stew that Tilieth had packed, appreciating the energy boost.

As the sun finally started to peek over the dunes, Abel swallowed nervously, wondering if the Gerudo would notice that he was, in fact, far older than the Hylian Champion should be. But the woman pressed ahead, eyes alert for threats, and with the dawn’s light Gerudo Town was easily distinguishable.

As was a shrine.

Tilieth gasped, pointing and dashing ahead, and Abel reached out to call for her to stop, but she was too adamant. Sighing, he held on to the straps of the harness and took off after her, dragging his feet through the deep sand. Fasoora saw them in her periphery, turning to watch them and following them.

“It appeared fairly recently,” she noted as they got to the shrine. “We’re not entirely sure what it is, but its design is similar to Vah…”

Abel glanced at the woman as she trailed off, staring at him. He felt himself blush, knowing that with the daylight, there was no hiding anything.

“Perhaps, before we have issues born from miscommunication, I should explain a bit,” Abel noted as the guard watched him, tensing up. “You are correct in that… the Champion is in this party. And I was correct in saying he was grievously wounded.”

“That puny voe is the Hylian Champion?” the guard hissed.

Tilieth was blessedly far enough to not hear their conversation, finally reaching the shrine itself. It wasn’t like she didn’t have to know, but her excitement was loud enough that others at the city wall might overhear her reaction.

Abel himself felt like he was going to pass out from both exhaustion and how fast his heart was beating, every fiber of his being screaming that this woman should die for knowing who Link was. But she had been willing to smuggle Link into the city anyway, assuming that Abel was the Champion. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t already willing to help.

…Or she had been trying to lure the Champion’s family into a hostage situation.

Abel felt any peace of mind disappearing, paranoia overriding any plan he had, and he readied himself for a fight.

Fasoora recognized the shift in body language, and she slowly held out a hand. “Your son will be safe in Gerudo Town, voe. I promise. So long as your wife can keep his identity a secret, at least – they will kick them out if they find out he’s a voe.”

The paranoia settled a little, and Abel’s hand no longer itched for his sword.

“Here,” the Gerudo said, untying her scimitar from her back and holding it out. “A testament to my word. This blade was a gift from my aunt before she died. It is precious to me. If anything were to happen to your family while they are under Gerudo protection, you may strike me down with this blade.”

Abel stared at her, body finally relaxing, and he slowly took the offered weapon. “I trust it won’t be necessary for either of us.”

“There’s a reason I said Gerudo Town is safer than the stable,” the guard warned cryptically. “They will be fine here.”

Abel felt his insides crawl, agitated at her words, wondering what or who at the stable would make her say such a thing. Or perhaps it was simply her giving testimony to her people’s ability to fight.

He still felt on edge, though.

But with a shrine just outside of Gerudo Town, he could test his theory here and now, and put his mind at ease about something.

“We no longer require your escort,” Abel said. “I thank you for taking us this for, and… for everything else.”

Fasoora nodded. “I will speak to the guards so they allow your family passage. Farewell.”

Abel tipped his head in gratitude and watched her walk towards the entrance to the city. As she did so, he hurried over to the shrine, where Tilieth was waiting.

“Let me try something,” he whispered quickly. “Take him. You’ll have to carry him inside. Do not let anyone know he’s a boy.”

Tilieth nodded, anxiously transferring Link from his back to hers. Abel then gently guided her to stand in the sand while he approached the pedestal with the Sheikah Slate. He pulled out Link’s lock of hair and stared at it for a moment before letting out a measured breath, holding the lock in his right hand alongside the slate as he rested it overtop the pedestal.

There was silence. And then…

The pedestal hummed a little, as if it were scanning, a drawn out process that had never happened before. Abel felt his hand grow warm, but despite growing a little apprehensive, he held his ground.

And then the pedestal shone blue, and the travel gate activated.

The door, however, did not open.

Abel didn’t care. He felt elated – it had worked! It worked well enough, he could activate the gates and now that there was one here, he could come back to the settlement whenever he pleased.

When he turned to look at Tilieth, she was watching in absolute delight. “Oh, Abel, it—it worked, that means—”

“We’ll follow my plan,” Abel said with a confident smile. “One week, love. I’ll be here. But let me cover some ground in the meantime. I can find far more shrines this way than if we all traveled together in that time, and it’ll allow Link and you to rest.”

“You have to promise to be careful,” Tilieth said sternly, approaching him quickly and raising a finger.

As soon as she set foot on the shrine’s perimeter, the door unraveled, opening the shrine to them. The couple stared at it, a little surprised, and then they both gave a small, relieved laugh.

What a development. This would help them significantly. Abel didn’t dare enter the shrine right now, not with the guards right there and the conversation quickly making them look at the family, and so he guided Tilieth away from the shrine and towards the entrance.

“Say your goodbyes, voe,” one of the guards noted as Fasoora had already started her return journey to the oasis. Abel watched after her a little worriedly – it was a long walk, after all, and the sun was rising… but he supposed she would be fine.

He would have to figure out what to do next. Perhaps he would travel back to the shrine by the stable.

In either case, despite the hope their new discovery brought them, he was suddenly filled with anxiety and dread, and Tilieth looked just as jittery as he glanced at her.

“It’ll be all right,” he said softly as the couple turned to each other, trying to reassure himself as much as he was reassuring her. Perhaps he’d teleport back here tonight, just to be sure. Or immediately after departing, to see what would happen, or—

Abel swallowed, pushing through a thick throat, and Tilieth hugged him.

“Be safe,” she whispered desperately in his ear. “I love you.”

“If anything were to happen to your family while they are under Gerudo protection, you may strike me down with this blade.”

He would hold that woman to it, no matter her relation to the fallen chief. He held Tilieth more tightly, and he kissed her cheek, and then he kissed Link’s forehead. “I love you too. Stay vigilant. If anything seems off, seek shelter in the shrine.”

Tilieth nodded as they pulled apart, and she slowly turned towards the entrance. One of the guards kindly offered to carry Link, but Tilieth declined, tiredly making her way inside.

Abel stood there. And stayed there. Despite the other guard watching him, despite the sun rising, despite his body trembling. He watched Tilieth until she turned a corner and disappeared from the doorway.

And then he still stood there.

Was this the right thing? Was she safe? What if she got jumped as soon as she’d turned the corner? He hadn’t heard anything. The Sheikah had said it was safe, but that guard knew who Link was, had she told the others?

“Your wife and daughter will be fine,” the remaining guard said gently. “Do not worry.”

“Your people at the oasis said not many Hylians come here,” Abel noted, not moving.

“That is because they do not know the way. They do not survive the journey.”

“Do they not head to the oasis?”

“Only voe go to the oasis. That is our agreement. Anyone else who arrives there is given shelter, but then they are turned around. We have nothing at the oasis to sustain them for a long time.”

Only voe…?

Whatever. That didn’t matter.

Tilieth would be fine. This would be fine. He had to trust the Gerudo. He had to trust them.

Abel didn’t move.

It took maybe ten minutes, long after the other guard had returned and had reported that Tilieth was taken to the inn, that she and their ‘daughter’ were safe, that he started to shift. He shuffled away from the entrance, sitting on the little step leading to the shrine.

And he still stayed, despite how hot the polished stone began to get, despite how his doublet was no longer suitable attire for the weather, despite how he had done this to take advantage of moving freely on his own and quickly gathering information, despite—

They would be fine, right? Would they be okay?

Abel sat there until the sun was directly overhead, sweat pouring down his face and soaking his clothes. The world swamp around him, and he felt like he was going to throw up. One of the guards came over with water and a fruit dish, telling him to take his doublet off.

He listened. But he didn’t leave.

“Do you want me to check on them?” the guard asked as he wiped sweat off his face with his tunic.

Abel didn’t have the energy to speak, but his expression must have said what he needed to. The guard sighed, nodding and heading back into the town. The other one watched him sympathetically from the entrance.

Even though they did this routine two more times, going inside and checking on Tilieth for him, Abel was still too terrified to leave, and he was beginning to grow utterly frustrated by it. He was wasting time, he could be putting them at risk just by doing this!

But he was still too afraid to leave. He had… he had to see for himself, but he couldn’t.

And then, finally, as dusk started to paint the sky, the other guard sighed, sending her companion back into the town, and then walked over to him, kneeling down to be at eye level. “Do you want to see them?”

“Don’t bring them out,” Abel immediately said, finding his voice. “I… she won’t go back inside if she sees me like this.”

“I didn’t ask if you wanted me to bring them to you,” the guard said pointedly.

Abel stared. Tried to ascertain what she meant. Blinked. And then…

No, it still didn’t make sense. He wasn’t allowed inside.

“I have two daughters of my own,” the guard said gently. “I would be a mess too if I had to send them somewhere foreign and couldn’t see them. You get this one chance, voe. Do you want to see them before I escort you away from here?”

She… was she offering…?

“I’ll be back. My friend is bringing you more food. Have an answer for when I return.” The guard advised sternly, rising.

Abel rose with her. “Yes.”

She nodded. “Then be ready when I return.”

Abel didn’t know what he was supposed to be ready for, but he almost felt like he was going to pass out when he rose. He definitely would have to teleport out of here, he’d been up for almost twenty-four hours.

He remembered the last time he’d started getting desperately sleep deprived with worry. He told himself he would not let himself get to that point again.

When he was given food, he ate it carefully, and the other guard finally came back with a Gerudo styled bag. “Supplies for your journey. Now come with me.”

Abel followed her hesitantly as they walked along the wall and rounded the corner. She pulled the purse string open at the top of the bag, removing some clothes.

Gerudo clothes.

Abel stared. “You… want…”

“You will enter this side alley,” the guard instructed. “I will come with you. Your wife is out in the square speaking with others. You can see her from the alley. You will not interact with any of the vai, and you will go no further into the city. Once you see her, I will escort you out. Do you understand?”

Abel nodded, swallowing and grabbing the clothes. He blushed a little as he looked at them, and he wondered why the guard was even bothering with this charade if he was to stay out of sight anyway.

It felt like just to laugh at him. Which she did when he threw on the shawl, blushing even more.

“You would make for a cute vai if you hid your face,” she cackled. “Put the veil on.”

Abel’s expression almost soured, but he avoided it so as not to push his luck. He still felt like passing away, though.

His embarrassment faded as she guided him through a side entrance, ensuring the alley was clear before letting him enter. He hovered close to her, her hand tight around his bicep anyway, and she finally got him to the place where he could peer into the city a little further. Curiosity did nag at him, but his eyes searched only for one thing—

Tilieth. There she was.

His wife was standing in the center, sipping some drink and laughing as she chatted amicably with the Gerudo. She looked exhausted, but she wasn’t hurt, and her eyes were bright. Link was likely resting at the inn, though Abel did feel exasperated that she left him alone in there.

He supposed he couldn’t expect herself to hole up in a room for a week. It had been hours since they’d entered, she’d probably ensured he’d gotten settled.

He didn’t dare ask to see his child. He knew he would get no such luck. But he glanced at the guard anyway. “Thank you.”

Despite wearing a veil, he could tell she was smiling. “Of course. Now, it is time to leave.”

Abel nodded, sighing as the pair turned away, but then he caught sight of something and paused. “Please, may—forgive me for asking, but may I…”

He shifted, swallowing, and then held on to his resolve, eyes fixed on the statue in the corner. “May I pray a moment before I leave?”

The Gerudo watched him before glancing at the statue of Hylia, and then she relaxed, releasing him. “Go. I will wait here.”

Abel thanked her and slowly made his way to the statue. The last time he’d knelt before one, it had been only to realize he’d had no right to pray at all. But so much had happened since then, and…

Perhaps he still had no right. But he didn’t know what else to do.

Carefully, he lowered himself to his knees, looking at the small statue that was decorated in Gerudo jewelry. At first he didn’t even know what to say, mind blank, filled with worries. There was movement beside him, and Abel turned a little, figuring the guard was saying his time was up. But it was someone different, a girl in Gerudo clothes with feathers strung along beads around her veil, and her blue eyes wrinkled as she smiled at him.

Abel didn’t dare say a word. There was no way he could actually pass off for being a woman. But this girl didn’t seem bothered.

The girl looked at the statue. “The world’s trials are unending. But we learn from them, and grow from them. I offer what I can, but it never seems enough. They have to listen too. Will you pray and offer as well?”

Her words meant little to him. He was far more concerned about the guard dragging him away. But she hadn’t noticed yet, and so he stayed motionless.

But something in the girl’s statements, in her voice, seeped into his bones, making him feel lifted and free, brave enough to pray as well. So when she rose and walked away, finished with her own prayer, he took a moment to collect himself, staring at the statue, grabbing his resolve. He thought of his dear boy, his beloved wife, and he swallowed thickly.

Quietly, he said, “I… I know I should not be speaking to you. But I… I think you… you want what’s best for Link, at least. I am worth nothing. I know this. But… please… please protect my boy. Protect my wife. They’re treasures to me, and I hope and pray they are to you. He’s your Hero, and she is a fervent believer of yours. I… I’ll offer myself if I must. I’ll offer anything. Just… please protect them. Watch over them. Keep them safe.”

“Time’s up, voe,” he heard behind him.

Abel bit his lip, closing his eyes and bowing, sinking to the ground, head over his hands as they rested on the sandy stone. Please help him. Please keep them safe.

And then he rose and walked away.

The guard guided him a good ways from the city, and he walked onwards until she disappeared behind a dune. Then he pulled out the slate, selecting the shrine closest to the canyon stable, and disappeared into the golden sky.

Tilieth laughed and cried and chatted with the Gerudo in the antechamber of the inn as the sun set, the golden light of the torches reflecting in her eyes as she started to grow tired.

And in the bedroom allotted to her, Link rested in the large, comfortable bed, shifting a little as a golden caress tousled his hair, breathing life into him. He sniffled, brow furrowing, and his eyes fluttered open.

And stayed open. And looked around. And examined. And worried.

And Link had no idea where he was.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Adventures of a Hero (Age of Calamity aftermath)

Scenes that y'all helped put together! Here's Link adjusting to life after the Calamity. :)

Link sighs as he looks up at the moon in the dark blue starry sky. The ocean laps at Hateno Beach, tickling his toes and moving the sand around his feet. It’s been almost two months since the Calamity ended, and he finds himself beginning to grow restless.

As soon as the battle had been over, everyone had been eager to restore Hyrule from the terrible destruction that had been wrought, but wounds needed healing, and the king insisted on handling the matter with those who had not fought to the same degree, giving the others time to rest and help their own people.

Or, for Link, just rest. He doesn’t like it, sitting still this long, having grown used to bouncing from place to place in preparation, living in survival mode for months. But after six weeks, he’s finally beginning to appreciate just being in the moment and not rushing.

But he’s also going stir crazy. He’s rested long enough.

He hears someone behind him, and the immediate urge to turn and expect something to be wrong prickles at his neck, but it isn’t as bad as it was, and he manages to take a calming breath before looking.

He sees his father watching him, standing silently beside one of the palm trees.

“You’ve been out here a while,” he noted. “Your mother and I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Link knows his papa well enough, knows that his father’s anxieties are similar to his own, though he expresses them differently. He’s certain his mother was fine with him being down here, but Abel is using Link’s love for his mother to convince him to come home.

He glances back out at the sea. Just a week ago, Mipha had visited and they had swam around until nearly midnight, exploring the ocean. Although sea water made breathing a little difficult for Mipha, sometimes forcing her to actually just hold her breath, it wasn’t impossible or painful, and she and Link had both enjoyed seeing something different, never having had a chance to explore this area together.

It seems much lonelier now. But he also just enjoys the peace and quiet of being out here.

Abel sighs a little, walking towards him and easing himself onto a rock, not willing to sit in the sand. “The princess replied to your letter. It seems the Champions are gathering back up, as Mipha said. You’re expected at the central camp, and assignments will be handed out there.”

Link looks at Abel, happily surprised. His father watches him carefully before smiling a little.

The smile is inviting, and Link rises to join his father on the large rock, leaning against him, shivering a little as the breeze blew, and his father wrapped an arm around him.

Finally. It’s time to heal Hyrule.

XXX

Tilieth smiles as she watches her son cook eagerly. She's been absolutely thrilled and relieved that he and Abel were able to stay for a little while. Although Link was given a much longer reprieve (Abel, being the new captain of the guard, insisted on going back only after a week, and he'd only returned to Hateno recently because of Mipha's visit), Tilieth has been blessed to have the entire family together for the first time in years.

Link hums cheerily, smiling at the stew he's making, and his little sister comes running up to hug him, asking what he's making. He explains eagerly, but refuses to let her try it until it's ready. Tilieth giggles at the pair.

She grabs bottles aplenty as Link finishes the recipe, and he dashes by her to eagerly grab bowls for himself and Lyra.

"Link, honey, if you eat it all now you can't take it with you," Tilieth reminds her ravenous son, laughing.

"There'll st'll be s'me l'ft," Link notes, mouth full of bread as he returns and pours a generous portion for himself and his sister. Lyra plops in the grass by the cooking pot, happily eating while Link multitasks, starting on a new recipe while slurping at his stew.

Tilieth grabs ingredients that she already prepped in the kitchen, tossing them into the pot as Link stirs them together, and her heart fills with warmth.

But it fills with worry too, as she knows that in the morning he will be returning to his duties. It's far less than it used to be, for sure, but she always worries about her boys.

At least now she can finally see her boy smile again. The pressure of destiny is off his shoulders, and now he is simply stepping up to help rather than being forced into the spotlight.

Tilieth knows, deep down, that Link would have forced himself into the position one way or another. He is as stubborn as his father, and eager to fulfill his duties as a knight. But either way, the greatest danger is over now.

Tilieth wants to explore Hyrule as well, honestly, to help rebuild, but all she can do is stay in Hateno. The village was blessedly spared, though guardians did come close. She's been helping supply the local fort as best as she can, while also taking care of Lyra, which is an undertaking in itself.

So as Link hums a new tune, forgetting whatever song he'd been on before, Tilieth kisses his temple and steals his bowl away, making him laugh and pout as she packed it away for him.

Lyra eventually grows restless, rushing off to find her father, but Tilieth and Link stay here, moving back and forth between prepping ingredients inside and cooking them outside. Sometimes they move and work together in silence, sometimes they hum clashing songs, and sometimes they play, competing over who can chop vegetables the fastest, testing out new spices for different meals. It's an all day affair, and by the time they finish her little one has at least two week's worth of food.

Link's mouth practically waters at the sight of all the food, and Tilieth hastily puts everything into a bag. "Do not eat it until you leave, sweetheart. I'll make you something for tonight and for breakfast."

Her son smiles, eyes shining, face carefree, and Tilieth has to pull him into a hug, heart about to burst.

"I love you, Link," she whispers as he melts into her embrace, as she gently rocks them both back and forth, as the world disappears around them one last time in this moment of peace.

"I love you too, Mama," Link says softly, squeezing her a little tighter. "I promise I'll bring back all kinds of things next time."

Tilieth giggles. "I'll look forward to it. And your letters - promise me you'll write, okay?"

"I will."

She pats his back, tightening the embrace one more time before letting go, and the pair walk back indoors just as Abel and Lyra appear, holding wooden swords and both looking like they've rolled in the grass. Tilieth kisses her daughter and shoos her to the back of the house for a bath before doing the same with her husband. Link giggles, skipping indoors to try and beat his mother to the kitchen, and Tilieth rushes to catch up to him.

XXX

It's getting close to noon as Link arrives at the fort.

He's helped a little with rebuilding it in his six weeks of respite, but each time he goes he finds different spots intertwined with memory.

That's where I saw that guardian vaporize ten soldiers at once. That's where part of the structure fell on enemy and ally alike.

That's where I almost died and Zelda discovered her powers.

He's not sure it's gotten easier or harder coming to the fort, but today the eyes on him are less overwhelming, though he finds he probably should have considered what he was wearing.

He's in a mixture of attire today, having chosen it for travel for specific reasons. He has a ruby headdress that was given to him by Urbosa when winter had started to settle in, when the rains pouring on them as they prepared their final assault were so cold he felt like the water froze to his skin. She and Revali had been handing out elemental jewelry and items to help everyone else. Since winter is now in full swing, he knows he'll need it. The winters are milder in Hateno than in Central Hyrule, especially towards the north where the center camp is, amidst the ruins of Castle Town. As for his other clothes, he's wearing his reliable Hylian trousers, along with armor that is precious to him.

But explaining the armor is another matter.

"Champion Link!" one of the soldiers calls, and he vaguely recognizes him. Fobi, he recalls, a newer recruit who survived the battle and is helping with restoration efforts, a native to Hateno's outskirts who Link had seen in passing a few times. "It's good to see you again! You look like you're actually going somewhere beyond the fort, are you heading back to the castle?"

Link nods, and another soldier leans on his halberd, squinting a little. "That armor is beautiful. Did the princess make it for you?"

Link glances down at the brilliant blue material, at the silver jewelry on his chest, one piece hiding a treasure more precious than gold. He nods again.

It isn't a lie, after all.

He chose to wear this because he knew he'd be seeing Mipha again, because he wants to wear it for her, and, quite honestly, it is impressive armor and extremely durable, which is useful for solo travel in a world still bleeding with malice from a heavy wound.

He glances up at the stone walls of the fort, hands fiddling a little nervously, and he feels a little safer wearing this armor. He was in his champion tunic that night, and, well...

Pain sears through his right side, and he feels like half his body is torn off. He gasps, falling to the ground, unable to bear the sensation, curling his body in agony, left hand reaching across desperately, right arm unable to move--

He hears someone cry out, he sees a flash of white, and he sees the blights coming up on him, eyes maliciously red.

He tries to stand. He knows he has no more battles after this, he knows this is his last moment he has to make it count so the princess can flee--

And then gold shines blindingly, warmth seeming to settle over him a moment, easing his pain and making him feel like he's floating, and then Zelda is there standing in front of him, staring at her hands, back towards him. The pain tears back into him like he's pulled unwillingly back into a broken body, and he cries out.

The princess turns, eyes wide and frantic, when another set of feet rush to them, and Link hears someone slide to a halt on the ground beside him.

He hears voices, but he can't quite place them, his ears are ringing and he can hardly hear at all, he feels warm liquid on his fingers as he blindly tries to stem bleeding from too many places.

And then instead of soothing warmth, there's a coolness, not unpleasant, numbing before washing over him like a refreshing bath, washing away the searing heat of the burns, making his muscles shudder as he grits his teeth.

Mipha.

"Champion?"

Link snaps out of his daze, glancing at the pair of soldiers. Their group has grown, with more arriving to eagerly greet him, and he slowly slides off his horse to greet them all.

Despite his memory, he feels no regrets over that night. He's... grateful that his sacrifice allowed Zelda to find her powers. None of them would be here otherwise.

But sometimes he can still feel that pain in his side, the overwhelming burning and tearing. Sometimes he still wakes up in a cold sweat, images of reddish pink eyes staring into his soul, ready to tear him apart.

Link shakes his head, listening to the soldiers around him. He gets more admiration for the intricate armor, well wishes and eager words about the restoration of the fort. His eyes wander across its walls, but the memories are pushed back by the distraction of those around him. His hand subconsciously drifts up to the silver necklace he wears, red scale hidden in the amulet.

Yes, he's grateful he could help Zelda discover her powers. And he accepted a scarf made of the same champion blue after his shirt had been ruined. He carries it with him even now, a reminder of his friendship with her, of his sacred duty. But he'll wear this armor, always.

He feels safe in it.

XXX

Link still feels his stomach and chest clench when he sees the ruins of Castle Town.

He knows, of course, that there's no way it would have been fixed by the time he returned. But the devastation sink in when there's no more fighting, when the place isn't littered with guardian debris and monster parts.

The base camp for the restoration efforts is just outside the capital, and Link can see all kinds of groundwork for rebuilding structures. He feels hope bubble in his heart, warm and soothing despite the pain of what stands before him, and he clings to it.

He sighs, entering the camp's perimeter, and stops as he catches sight of someone familiar.

Mipha.

A smile finally breaks out on his face, and he doesn't bother hiding it as he walks over to her. They haven't been apart the entire six weeks--on the contrary, Mipha visited Link's family just a little over a couple weeks ago now, to better get to know his mother and sister after their hasty wartime engagement--but it still feels like a breath of fresh air, a piece of familiarity as they face this new challenge together.

Mipha notices Link's approach, and she meets him halfway. The pair almost embraces before remembering where they are, but there's a debate in Mipha's eyes on the matter. Link's wearing her engagement armor, but most Hylians don't know the meaning behind it, so their relationship is still generally on the lesser known end of things.

Link isn't sure how to proceed with that either, to be honest, but his smile remains, and Mipha settles for laughing and holding both his hands. "Oh, Link, I've missed you! I know it hasn't been long, but it's so wonderful to see you here. Sometimes it can get a little overwhelming when I'm out in the greater Hyrule on my own. I know it's silly, but--"

"It isn't," he says quietly, tilting his head to the side, eyes gentle. "I get overwhelmed too."

It's a little unnerving to admit this in a crowded area, but his words are only heard by her. Mipha's growing flustered aura begins to settle, and she hums, squeezing his hands.

"Well. I'm glad you're here with me," she states gently, sincerely, and Link wants to hug her right then and there. Instead, the pair walk together, hand in hand for a few paces before their grip slips, and they're the ever perfect princess and ever stoic knight once again.

Someday that'll change, he knows. The hope of rebuilding the world ebbs into every part of his life, even though his smile settles for something a bit more content and neutral as they enter the largest structure where the other champions, Zelda, and the king are waiting.

It's a new day, a new era, and they'll face it together.

XXX

It feels a bit like coming home, reuniting with everyone. Although his time with the Champions could hardly have been called peaceful, they'd all bonded and felt like family, even Revali, as prickly as he can be. It's a relief to see Zelda again, and she seems to be doing well, eyes aglow with eagerness to rebuild her kingdom.

Link feels proud of her, especially since it is she who leads this briefing, rather than the king. Although Zelda came of age during the battle against Ganon, she's yet to actually ascend the throne simply because of everything that has happened, but she's stepping into the role of queen nonetheless.

"Reconstruction efforts in the major areas of Hyrule have been going well," Zelda reports. "Although supplies are becoming a problem, but we're trying to sort it out. We have the manpower for those matters, but I have special missions in mind for all of you."

Revali puffs out his chest, eager as always to prove himself. Link feels Mipha shift beside him, back straightening as she grows more alert and attentive. Urbosa and Daruk maintain their more casual postures, but it's clear everyone is waiting for their new assignments.

The princess gives everyone their own objective - Revali is to assist with a monster horde that's been harassing the people near Tabantha, those who are left and trying to rebuild. It's close enough to his home, and he promises to take Rito warriors to assist the villagers (not himself, of course, because he can handle a monster horde on his own); Urbosa is going to accompany Zelda as she investigates newly discovered ruins and technology in the Faron region, and anxiety fills the room at the thought of more potential dangers they don't understand; Daruk is requested to help safely escort Hylians and Gorons alike to different reconstruction sites; Mipha is to remain at the central camp to help the healers, and then get redeployed to Lureline Village to handle some pirates.

Link gets assigned to Death Mountain, where Daruk reports a rogue guardian is causing trouble. He claims he can't see any malice or dark magic coming off of it, but it's still there nonetheless. Purah guesses that it's the actual circuitry itself that's the issue, and not that Ganon's dark hold on the mechanical beasts is still present.

In either case, it's a problem. And Link is no stranger to killing guardians.

Mipha, on the other hand, is anxious as they all leave the briefing room. "Link, please be careful."

Link loves her, but he does give her a little exasperated look, raising one eyebrow. "I can handle one guardian, Mipha. Don't worry."

"Oh, I know," Mipha hastily acquiesces, and Link feels a little guilty that she gets flustered over his reaction, thinking she overstepped. "I just... after everything..."

Link pauses, facing her fully. "I'll be fine, Mipha."

Mipha nods a little, eyes downcast.

Smiling a little, Link adds, "It would be a really dumb way to die, getting killed by one rogue guardian after all the corrupted ones I've fought."

"Oh, you!" Mipha huffs, finally relaxing as Link cackles.

"He can handle one guardian," Revali notes, overhearing the last part of the conversation. Link knows the Rito warrior's words are more likely to reassure Mipha than to show confidence in his own abilities, but he still appreciates the support. "Besides, he has the easy assignment. One lone guardian is nothing compared to an entire monster horde."

Link bites back his smile. He understands Revali well enough to know this is just pointless blustering, but he is sorely tempted to say, What, can't handle it without Vah Medoh?

He recognizes it's best not to, though.

Terrako skitters across the ground, interrupting the conversation, and Link glances over to see Zelda and Impa chatting away, giggling. They approach the group, and Zelda smiles sweetly at Link. "It's good to see you again, Link."

Link's expression softens, and he nods.

"Do be careful on your journey," the princess continues, and Link works hard to ensure his expression remains neutral and not exasperated.

Honestly, he's only been away for six weeks, it's not like he hasn't practiced in that time. Everyone is being silly. Although, with more people bringing it up, it does make him squirm a little with insecurity.

Urbosa appears next. "We should be heading out soon, Princess. Everyone has their assignments. We'll reunite in a few weeks' time."

The group slowly disperses with Urbosa's final words, and the promise of reuniting has a casual confidence in everyone's success, leaving Link a little less unsettled. But Zelda and Mipha linger, and the princess pulls something out of her bag.

"I made a new one for you," she says warmly, and goddess if this isn't entirely different from the last time he'd received the Champion's tunic from her. "May it remind you of those who are here to support you, and may it signal hope to everyone who sees it."

Link accepts it gratefully, honored that she'd thought to do that with everything else going on, and bows. Zelda's smile is nearly as radiant as her magic, and she excuses herself, preparing for her own journey.

Mipha watches her go, saying happily, "She really has grown so much. She's going to be a wonderful queen, I think."

Yeah. I think so too, Link muses, glancing down at the tunic in his hands. He'll wear it proudly for his journey, his new knight's uniform... but he'll still wear Mipha's armor for the fight itself, he thinks.

He's being silly. But after not fighting for six weeks, and everyone's worries... he's just being silly. It'll be fine.

Link pulls Mipha into a hidden corner of the camp to kiss her hand and then her cheek, both blushing a little, and then they part ways.

XXX

Link lays in wait as he watches the guardian move along the Death Mountain trail. It's off the path a little, out of the way enough that most travelers can bypass it, which he assumes is how Daruk completely missed it on his way to the base camp. He can see sparks occasionally around its head, and they aren't from any kind of elemental magic from what he can tell, so he figures Purah was correct in her assessment - it's simply malfunctioning.

Nearly all of the old guardian technology was rounded up and disassembled as soon as the battle against Ganon had been won. No one wanted a repeat of that nightmare, after all. Link hopes, as he watches the guardian come to a jarring halt before teetering towards a hot spring, that this is the last of that project.

He grabs his royal broadsword and shield, grits his teeth, and slowly moves towards the mechanical beast. He's fought probably hundreds of these by now, he knows the proper strategy to take them out, the predictability of their fighting.

As soon as it detected him, its alarms started to blare, a jarring sound accompanied by the dreaded ticking of its laser charging. The sound made his skin crawl, the hair on the back of his neck rising, drawing forth an inherent adrenaline response, and he braces as it fires, knowing that redirecting its hits is more productive than simply dodging. He can't cover enough ground to get close to it anyway, so this will have to do.

He swings his arm, gritting his teeth, thankful that the shield he has is very durable. It helps take some of the force of the impact as he redirects the blast back to its source, arm shaking a little.

Just as it impacts the guardian directly in the eye, he charges.

And just as he charges, the ground moves strangely and then gives out entirely.

Link and the guardian both fall into a sinkhole, and he yells out as his back slams into a rock. His legs grow numb and tingly for a moment, and he has to abandon both sword and shield to drag himself away from the giant beast as it also recovers, charging its laser once more. There's nowhere to maneuver, and he can hardly move, but he manages to get behind a large rock before the guardian fires, practically blasting the rock into pieces. A bit of debris cuts at his face, and he looks around the corner quickly to see his shield just a few paces away.

His legs are starting to gain feeling again, and he's able to wiggle his toes, but it's taking too long. Thankfully, the guardian is half toppled, and its range of motion is even more limited than his own. But it will blast away at the rock once more, and then his cover will be gone.

Link closes his eyes, focusing on his legs, feeling them throb but come back to life. He then figures he'll have to dive for the shield once his cover is destroyed, and then he'll just have to brace.

But if he redirects another blast in this close proximity, it will likely throw him as well.

Still, this guardian is malfunctioning, and it usually only takes two or three direct hits to destroy one. He thinks he can still make this work. Besides, he still has his bow, and a few arrows are left in his quiver after he fell.

He might just start there, honestly, but the guardian is already charging another attack, so he waits, inching away from the rock as best he can.

It hits predictably, destroying what's left of the boulder, and Link yells as he full body leaps towards his shield. He flops just out of reach, dragging himself quickly as the laser blinds him, aiming directly for his head. His heart pounds as he sits up, shield at the ready, not really able to give as much force to redirecting in this position but still timing it well enough that it doesn't break his arm entirely. The guardian bucks a little, head tilted upward as it's stuck against the loose dirt that betrayed them both, and this gives Link the chance to catch his breath and pull out his bow. He nocks three arrows at once, aiming high so they'll descend in the right spot. He hears more than sees them make contact with the guardian's eye, cracking it, but the beast won't die quite yet.

His legs are finally shaking and trying to support his weight, and Link pulls himself to stand, nearly buckling as soon as he does. He leans heavily against the wall, looking around for his sword. He can finish this if he can just get to the guardian's eye at this point. It can't reach him anymore, but he can't guarantee it'll stay that way if he doesn't move.

Gritting his teeth, he pushes forward with a grunt, walking shakily as he finally sees the glint of his blade. His knees give out just as he gets to it, so he can at least grab it quickly, but he needs time before he can stand again, back screaming in pain. He feels his legs tingle again, and he waits a moment, knowing he'll lose his strength entirely if he tries anything at the moment.

He huffs, as for just a second, he's simply stuck in a hole with a guardian flat on its back, and he can't believe the ridiculousness of this situation. He's thankful no one else is around. Then again, if the others were here, this would have been resolved very quickly.

Link can finally feel his legs trying to come back to life again, and he gives all of his energy to charging, leaping into the air and stabbing the guardian in the eye. The beast glows a moment before it stops moving, eye dulling into a navy blue before growing nearly pitch black.

Link sighs heavily, collapsing and almost sliding off the guardian and back into the pit, but he drags himself up and out, moving towards the hot spring. He makes it to the water and lays in the shallow end, letting it soothe his aching body, waiting for his legs to start working again. As soon as he can at least crawl, he'll get to his supplies he left by the sign post a few hundred feet away, and then he can drink a potion and actually function.

He almost laughs, laying there. But he's embarrassed and ashamed at how much he struggled as well. In his defense, though, it wasn't the guardian that had been the issue.

Hylia, he's glad Revali wasn't here.

XXX

Link yawns and stretches, eyelids fluttering open as rose and gold greet his eyes, the sunrise making the sky blush. He's halfway back to the base camp after his escapade with the guardian, where he expects he'll be sent somewhere else. The Sheikah slate is at the base camp with Purah and Robbie, who relay information to the different towers to update all the teams, so Link knows whether or not the other Champions and the princess are back from their own missions, he can still get new orders.

It's strange, being sent on individual missions like this. He's used to traveling in a group, either with a handful of others or with entire squads, legions, armies. He hardly ever went on his own his entire life, aside from escapades from his childhood.

It's strangely freeing, but also quite lonely.

Link pulls out one of the meals his mother had made for him. It's nearly the last one--he only has another left--and he treasures the flavor, the seasoning that he can only get at home, the way his mother makes this particular sauce so creamy and delicious. It feels like a warm hug from her, and he leans back against the tree where he made camp.

And then he hears rustling, and he jumps, reaching for his sword, only to see a familiar face looking at him from around a bush.

"Link? What are you doing out here?" his father asks, walking out of the brush entirely.

Link has the same question for him, honestly. His father became captain of the royal guard during the war, after the previous captain died in the Calamity and Abel successfully defended the king during their escape to the plateau. As such, he should be with the king, or even the princess. Link expected him to stay at the base camp.

"I completed my mission," Link reports. "I'm just heading back to Central Hyrule."

It is almost a week's trip on foot from the start of Death Mountain's trail to the ruins of Castle Town - he'd been unable to ride here since the stable at the foothills of Death Mountain had been too damaged in the Calamity. He fought the guardian yesterday. His father shouldn't be too terribly surprised.

Abel looks him over, confusion fading, but his gaze is analytical. "I see the guardian gave you some trouble."

Link blinks, confused, looking down. He looks fine, his injuries all healed quickly with a potion after he obtained his supplies. But he notices a single spot on his trousers, thin and stained brown with some thread hanging from a hairline tear over his left knee.

Such a minor thing could be missed easily, could be chalked up to literally anything. But his father doesn't miss details like that, and Link squirms under the scrutiny.

Sighing, he admits with a little shame, "It wasn't the guardian. It was the sinkhole that tried to kill both of us."

Abel chuckles a little, relaxing and sitting beside him. "Well, I'm glad you're alright."

His father's stern eyes have softened, and Link relaxes with him. He offers his papa the last remaining meal from his mother, and Abel takes it with a nod of thanks. When he opens the bottle's lid, he sniffs in the delicious scent, closing his eyes and humming. "It smells like home."

The two share their time in silence as they eat their breakfast together, but as the sun finally peeks over the horizon, Abel rises.

Link looks him over, taking in his knight's armor, and he has to ask, "Papa, what are you doing out here? I thought you'd be with the king."

Abel puts his sword on his back, and he says easily, "Believe it or not, the king gave me permission to handle the monsters in this area. He said he was safe enough with the Sheikah in the base camp, and with Impa and Urbosa accompanying the princess there was no need for us there. So I've been tasked with taking the royal guard and handling the remaining beasts."

Link is a little confused, because Revali had the same task, but perhaps the monster horde he'd been sent to handle was particularly difficult or large. Probably both.

He wants to help his father, but he has to return to the capital. Abel notices his hesitancy, and he jerks his head a little, an invitation. "You're free to accompany me, if you please."

Link hesitates, wondering if this is disobeying orders. But his father doesn't wait for a reply, grabbing the rest of his supplies, and Link jumps to his feet, wanting to fight alongside him. He pauses again as Abel heads the opposite way from his own path. When his father notices him remaining motionless, he turns to look at him.

"Be safe, son," he says tenderly.

Link is frozen, stuck between orders and desire, so he walks after his father, halting just before he gets within reach. His uncertainty is mostly hidden, but the way he bites his lip isn't.

Abel watches him a moment longer, trying to read what Link is getting at, but he isn't quite as discerning with emotions as Tilieth. "Link, what's wrong?"

Link can't really admit he wants to fight with him. His father would just tell him to do his duty, as usual. It isn't like Abel needs Link's help, but...

"I already said you're free to accompany me," Abel tries. "Unless you have specific orders to return immediately."

Well. They weren't that specific. Zelda had said they would all reconvene when they'd finished their missions. That implied time in between. He knows he's just going to get redeployed as soon as he returns.

But he wants to help his father. But what if there's some time sensitive mission waiting for him?

If there was such a mission, he would have been sent on that first.

He grabs hold of his resolve, walking towards his father to go with him. He'll return to the capital after the fight. He can't imagine it'll take too long.

Abel continues to watch him, but he doesn't comment at Link's change in decision. Instead, the pair walks together in silence as Link tries to figure out where they're going. Eventually, his papa says, "The danger in this area is fairly low. I already handled the last of the beasts near the citadel. Although we had secured that area some time ago, guardians had tried to retake it when we made our final assault."

Link feels his blood freeze, and he blurts out, "You fought guardians?"

"No, little knight," Abel replies, though his tone is even in that way it gets when he's slightly annoyed. Link bites back his words, realizing he probably just insulted his father's abilities by getting worried about him. "Just some moblins and a lynel. I had some soldiers with me."

Link looks at the ground, trying to reel himself in, when a warm hand settles on his shoulder. He looks up to see his father smiling a little ruefully at him.

"You know your papa can handle himself," Abel notes, only the barest hint of that annoyance remaining.

Link sighs and nods.

"Relax, son. The war is over."

"This is the easy part, I know," Link finally mutters, having heard another soldier say something similar.

"No. I never said it was easy."

Link looks back at his father, who has stopped walking to look him in the eye.

"You should never assume anything is easy," Abel says. "That's how you get hurt. There is always something out there that's going to be stronger than you expect, better trained, faster. You should never let your guard down about such things."

It's a familiar lecture, one he's heard plenty of times in his earlier adolescence. His father had pushed him to be the best, even though he'd already exceeded almost everyone at a fairly young age. Being a prodigy wasn't enough for Abel, it was just the starting point. Link pushes himself constantly as a result.

But the strange thing is, when they're home in Hateno, his father tells him to relax, as if it's as simple as turning such a habit on and off. Link isn't sure he's built the same way as his beloved papa - he can't just turn it off. It isn't nearly as bad at home, he has to admit, and there are people he feels safe with, but there's almost always an edge to him in some capacity, whether it's expecting a threat or simply overthinking literally everything.

"Your journey in life is only just beginning, after all," his father continues, though he's smiling now. "A future as bright as the sunrise, thanks to your efforts, alongside the princess and Champions."

His agitation settles a little, warmth in his chest at the clear pride in his father's eyes.

"Speaking of the Champions, have you and Mipha figured out a date?" Abel asks casually, and Link's entire world flips as his cheeks color intensely. His father laughs at his expense. "Oh come now, you two got engaged as the world was ending and now you're bashful about it? You were fine when she visited us at home."

That was different. That was Mipha getting to know his family, that was the people he felt safest with all being together and happy. There were no discussions of futures and weddings and all the implications and problems that came with it.

Everyone had accepted the proposal, of course. Her father was fine with it, Link's family was fine with it, the elder version of Sidon had been so excited he'd practically announced it to the entire world with his booming voice (and Mipha had desperately tried to get him to be quiet, but neither she nor Link were certain who had and hadn't heard him). But that isn't the issue. The issue is literally everyone else. The issue is their conflicting duties, the issue is how in the world Link can even expect the Zora to accept that a common country Hylian could marry their most beloved princess.

"What is it, Link?" Abel presses, not quite understanding Link's hesitancy on the matter. "Do you not wish to marry her?"

"It's not that," Link immediately negates, shaking his head almost desperately. "But I--I'm--she's a princess--"

"And you're the destined Hero of Hyrule, the wielder of the Sword that Seals the Darkness," Abel finishes for him. "That elevates your station to the heavens, son. About the only people who outrank you are the king and Princess Zelda."

He supposes that's true. But... "But my oath as a knight, my destiny..."

"Your oath is to serve Hyrule, it's true," Abel acquiesces. "But the Domain is part of Hyrule, is it not? Can you not help and serve Hyrule through them as well? If these were your worries, why did you two get engaged?"

"We could've died..." Link mumbles, almost embarrassed, averting his gaze.

Abel laughs now, clapping his son's back. "It's funny how things simplify themselves when life and death are in the balance, isn't it? You two will be fine, Link. So long as you love her, and she loves you, and you two are willing to work together, support each other, and help each other no matter what, you will be fine. Now come - we have monsters to kill."

His father's words soothe his worries, relaxing his heart and mind like the warmth of a hot spring relaxes the body. He looks back at his father, who gives him one last reassuring smile, before they both grow serious, tracking their prey.

The monster camp is rather large, rather akin to the legions that held outposts in the war, but Link has faced such dangers alone. He knows better than to let his guard down, and he's annoyingly particularly cautious for sinkholes, but thankfully nature itself does not sabotage his efforts as he and Abel charge into the fray.

The fight doesn't last very long. Abel and Link both have a growing tally of their kills, and the younger one finishes things by bringing out a bomb arrow, making Abel leap for cover as his son blows up the rest of their enemies.

"You could warn me," Abel grumbles, dusting dirt off his shirt. Link just smiles, face black with soot, and Abel sighs heavily, wiping his boy's face clean with exasperation.

The pair walk together to the capital, and Link feels infinitely less alone, far more hopeful of the future as the sun shines brightly in the sky.

He has his entire life ahead of him, it's true. Time to heal, time to help Hyrule, time to be with those he loves. And he can't wait to enjoy all of it.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

These moments in the new chapter KILLED me lofty 😭 I was playing a game with my family and I couldn’t FOCUS cuz the FEELS WERE SO STRONG (it’s a good thing) I love this family 😭😭🧡

SOSOWHEJEFOCHDKAOWBWBT SMILES SMILES

SMILES

OH MY GOSH

I—

I HAVE NO WORDS PLEASE KNOW THAT SEEING THIS AS THE FIRST THING WHEH I GET BACK AFTER DAYS OF MENTAL BREAKDOWN WAS SUCH A BLESSING THANK YOU

I’m so happy you loved the update 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Can we have Wild nad his mom? for the writing event?

Typically Tilieth received a letter from Abel that her husband and son would be coming home for a break, but this time the rumors beat any word from her family.

It was hard not to miss them, the whispers of destiny and heroes and magical swords. Tilieth knew the stories, of course, but it was troubling that there was talk of a country knight-in-training who had managed to find the legendary Master Sword.

She knew it couldn’t be true, or certainly couldn’t be her sweet little country child. But when a letter came from Abel stating he and Link were coming home, Tilieth had started to worry that the rumors might be more pertinent than she’d anticipated.

Her husband and son rode into town with different expressions than usual. The typical openness and cheer was gone, burdened by anxiety instead. Abel’s expression in particular was heavy with worry, while Link seemed both confused and nervous, glancing constantly at his father. It seemed the entire village was staring at them, but no one saw any magical sword, and after a few moments of tension, it released when Til and Abel’s other child, Lyra, ran to her father and brother while squealing excitedly. Link leapt down to greet his sister, picking her up, and then the villagers greeted the pair warmly as if it were any other day.

Tilieth stood up the hill a ways, watching the pair, noting how Link wore a heavy cloak hiding anything that he was wearing or carrying. She watched how her husband seemed to be alert, despite everyone else relaxing, and how he was acting as if he were still on duty, even when Link handed a wiggling Lyra to his father for her to sit on his lap.

Her heart sank.

It wasn’t as if such news wasn’t astounding. Quite frankly, Tilieth didn’t know how to register it. But the way she saw her boys carry themselves did not lend itself to excitement. And what dangers lay ahead for her son now? It was already frightening enough that Abel trained the boy at such a young age, constantly pointing out that he was practically a prodigy. Tilieth loved her husband dearly and knew he loved their son as well, but sometimes she thought he pushed the boy too hard.

So for him to be hesitant and protective of their child was telling.

Abel led Link up the hill, dismounting when they reached the bridge where Tilieth stood waiting. His expression relaxed a little, a small smile pulling at his lips as Tilieth moved towards them. Abel reached his arm back, bidding Link to approach so he could greet his mother first. When Tilieth knelt down to hug the little one (but Hylia he’d grown, he looked even more mature now, how was time passing so quickly and she was missing most of it due to his training), she felt a sword at his back underneath his cloak, and ice filled her veins as she glanced up at her husband.

Abel’s smile grew strained.

“I missed you, baby,” she whispered, kissing Link’s ear.

“Missed you too, Mama,” Link muttered, holding her more tightly.

Tilieth didn’t let go so long as her son didn’t, but Abel’s anxiety started to become apparent, so she finally pulled away. Her husband motioned with his head towards the house, putting his hand on Link’s back and guiding the party across the bridge as Lyra hopped down and rushed ahead. When they’d finally reached their home, somewhat isolated from the rest of the village, he relaxed, letting Tilieth hug him.

“Is everything all right?” she asked quietly.

“Let’s go inside,” Abel replied just as quietly before directing his attention to their son. “Link, get your sister.”

The parents corralled their children indoors, and Lyra dragged Link to their sleeping area under the stairs, showing him all her toys and asking him to play with her.

Abel sighed heavily, sitting at the table and rubbing his face tiredly. Tilieth sat beside him, hand on his back, worried.

“Everything is fine,” he finally said, and Tilieth almost laughed with how ludicrous it sounded given everything she’d observed so far. “But I… I didn’t have a chance to write ahead, I’m sorry. Not… not everything, at least. I couldn’t risk the information being compromised.”

“Are the rumors true, then?” Tilieth whispered. “About the… the Master Sword?”

Abel nodded.

Tilieth didn’t really know what to do with this information. It was incredible, but it was terrifying as well.

“That’s… so Link is…?” she tried to parse out, losing her voice midway.

“The Hero of Hyrule, as chosen by the goddesses themselves,” Abel finished for her. “I…”

Tilieth waited for him to continue, and Abel swallowed thickly.

Eventually, he sighed. “I’m proud of him. But he has a long way to go, and… I’d rather others not know about the matter yet. We’ll need to train him more, he’s not used to such a large blade.”

“But Abel, you just got back,” Tilieth noted.

“Link found the sword almost two months ago,” Abel noted. “We had to go see the king before we were allowed to come here. Link and I have to leave in a few days to head to the training camp near the Lost Woods. That’s where we were originally, when he’d wandered off and found it.”

“He’s only thirteen,” Tilieth argued. “Surely he can have a few weeks off.”

“The king said there isn’t time for that,” Abel replied. “We have no idea when…”

Abel grew quiet, and the sound of their children playing filled the air.

“Surely they… they don’t think it’ll be soon?” Tilieth choked out. “The princess isn’t ready, either.”

“They don’t know, that’s the issue,” Abel pointed out. “The sooner we get him ready, the better. Link is the most promising swordfighter I’ve ever seen. He’ll be all right. This is an honor.”

Oh yes, it certainly was an honor, but Tilieth still didn’t like how it ripped away Link’s already fading childhood, she didn’t like how Abel was now a worried mess, paranoid and cautious and upset.

Tilieth wondered why Hylia would choose their little boy this early. Maybe nothing terrible would happen for decades, and this just gave him an early start.

She could only pray that was the case.

But aside from Abel’s behavior, she had to notice Link’s behavior as well. The young one tried to smile and be cheerful for his sister, and her buoyant happiness seemed to help, but he still hadn’t taken his shoes and cloak off, still hadn’t gotten comfortable, was still acting as if he were about to leave again.

“Link, honey,” Tilieth said gently as she approached him. “Take off your cloak. You’re staying a while, you know, silly.”

Her son watched her a moment, blushing a little, and looked at his father for approval. Tilieth felt a twinge of something in response to that, but when Abel nodded, Link relaxed.

Did he even know? Did he even realize what this meant? She supposed he must have an inkling, considering he’d had to meet the king.

She didn’t get much chance to talk to him about it. Lyra kept Link busy, and Tilieth decided to work on dinner and ensuring her husband and son ate and slept. Tomorrow would be a new day and bring new opportunities.

The next day, her boys were both up early. Abel was playing with Lyra, eyes soft with his love for his daughter, but gaze growing distant as he thought about what was to come. Breakfast had been a quiet affair, and Tilieth found herself worrying all the more as she watched Link. His appetite was still intact, but he was far quieter, mirroring his father’s silent contemplation.

It was midmorning when Tilieth found her son sitting with his feet dangling off the bridge, eyes looking at the water down below. She walked over to him, settling on the ground beside him, carefully placing her hands on her lap.

Neither spoke, simply listening to the birds singing, to the water lapping. But eventually, Tilieth prompted him. “Your father said he spoke to you about the sword.”

Link played with a blade of grass between his fingers, lips twitching a little. He was a little stiff from anxiety, and Tilieth tucked some of his hair behind his ear to settle him. She knew when she grew too nervous she couldn’t speak very well, so she tried to do some of the speaking for him. “He said you met the king as well. A lot has happened since we last saw each other on your thirteenth birthday. Are you okay?”

“Papa said I’m strong, that this is an honor,” Link noted quietly, releasing the blade of grass and watching it fall into the water below.

Tilieth tilted her head to the side. “That wasn’t what I asked, sweetheart.”

“I am honored,” Link replied fervently. “But I…”

He didn’t dare speak, face scrunching in fear and worry, and Tilieth put her hand on his back.

"Honey," she said softly. "No matter what title you have, no matter what sword you wield, I want you to know you'll always be my baby boy."

Link's lip wobbled, and he gave her the first smile she'd seen from him since he’d arrived, leaning in to let her hold him tightly.

Her boys didn’t stay long. Only a couple days later, they were packed and ready to hit the road again. Abel was both nervous but excited, eager to teach his son and train him as much as possible. Link seemed just as earnest and willing to accept the challenge.

Tilieth worried all the same. She worried as she packed food for them, as Lyra cried that they had to leave so soon, as she kissed her husband and held her son.

Link gave her one last smile as he crossed the bridge with his father, and Tilieth said a prayer for them both.

And then she took a breath, hopeful and proud, and picked up her baby girl to comfort her.

It would be all right.