okay so a while ago i was really angry about something and cracked open botw to fight some guardians with only melee weapons and i kept getting viciously blasted to the ground and set on fire every time i tried to do anything and i was like MOOD but then i realized something. link always gets back up. immediately. you don’t even have to hit a button. he gets knocked down, and then he gets back up again. over and over for the at least a half an hour i was playing. and then that gave me feelings so i started writing.
this goes completely off the rails very quickly and is ridiculously self-indulgent but it was fun to reread so *gestures vaguely* now you get to see it. fair warning that even though it’s presented in a very video-game-mechanics way, wild is talking about serious self-endangerment so be warned if you’re not up for that. anyway, enjoy!
(2.4k words)
“You know what I do?”
“What?”
Hyrule turned around from where he sat keeping watch by the fire, startled by Wild’s sudden question. Or at least he’d been trying to keep watch, stabbing a stray piece of kindling into the sand at his side over and over again and trying not to think too hard about—well, he was trying not to think about it. Wild stared up at the clear desert sky, deep with unfamiliar stars, laying on his back in his bedroll with one hand stretched above his head, fingers splayed. Hyrule hadn’t even realized he was awake.
“When I’m angry. You what what I do when I’m just so frustrated and furious and filled with rage and I’m caught halfway between breaking something’s bones and breaking down and all I want to do is scream but I don’t even think I have the strength to speak?”
He opened his mouth to ask Wild when and why he’d felt that way and more importantly how he knew Hyrule was feeling that way, but Hyrule let his mouth fall shut, gripping the stick in his hands with white-knuckled fingers, twisting it into the sand and silently nodding his head in a request for Wild to continue.
“I go to Central Hyrule Field without a shield or a bow. I just take as many melee weapons and fairies as I can carry and wait for a Guardian to find me.”
Hyrule blanched and Wild caught his horrified expression in the corner of his eye, laughing a little.
“Oh, I also deck myself out in so much Guardian armor I can barely ride a horse. I’m really not keen on dying again.”
Hyrule relaxed a little, but not much, and waited with bated breath for Wild to continue.
“So I sprint up to the first Guardian I see and just start tearing into it with whatever weapons I have on hand.”
Hyrule nodded slowly, brow furrowed, beginning to realize why nobody went to Wild for advice on emotional matters.
“And then, inevitably, because they’re clever assholes, it scurries out of range and shoots me.”
Hyrule sucked in a breath, straightening, consciously trying to prevent his fingertips from glowing with the faint aura of Life. Wild, undeterred, stared up at the stars with a strangely nostalgic expression and continued.
“And it blasts me backwards and I land on my back in the mud and the grass around me is on fire and I’m choking on smoke with the wind knocked out of me and I know I’m gonna be black and blue from head to toe tomorrow and then, the next thing I know, I’m on my feet again.”
Hyrule just gawked at him, silent, watching Wild’s face sharpen into determination.
“And the second I’m on my feet again, before I can take another step, it blasts me back down. And sometimes I roll down a hill and when I get up I’m all dizzy and I find my bearings just in time to get hit again. And then I’m knocked back into the mud but before the fires have even gone out, I’m standing on my own two feet again, blood seeping into everything I own. I don’t know how I do it. I go to Central Hyrule half intending to tear every Guardian I see to shreds and half intending to let myself get blasted into the dirt and stay there, but I always find myself dragging my bloodied body back to my feet again by the skin of my teeth thinking just try me, you bastard.
“And I know when I’m decked out from head-to-toe in Guardian resistant armor with the Master Sword in my hand and a slate full of fairies, they never get the better of me for long, but for some reason I prefer to do that than nearly anything else. And I know I could parry their beams from a distance or shoot them in the eye, but even though it’s far more inefficient, I always use melee weapons. It’s not even because of the visceral experience of feeling the metal twist and tear under my blade anymore. It’s the way they get right up in my face and blast me back and beat me down and I always just get back on my feet again. I’m not even doing it for anything. It’s not like it’s to keep a promise to fulfill a duty. I just find myself laying on the ground and say to hell with this and then I’m standing up, staring forward with a weapon in my hand and ready to take on whatever comes next. It’s an important reminder, I think, when I feel hopeless after countless fights with demons I can’t see, that when push comes to shove and I find myself on my face in the dirt, I will always pull myself back to my feet again.”
Hyrule just stared at Wild, letting the words process themselves in his mind, Wild’s hand falling neatly over his stomach, his eyes still fixed on the sky.
“You really are completely insane, aren’t you?”
They both started at that, Wild shooting upright and Hyrule whipping his head around to stare at who’d just spoken.
Legend had propped himself up on his arms, the heels of his hands buried in the sand behind him, and he fixed Wild with the most unbelieving stare.
“I mean, I knew that already, but damn. At least when I vent my rage through physical violence, I engage in professional gladiatorial combat where they have the courtesy to drag my bloodied body out onto the curb to die instead of remorselessly blasting me to bits in the middle of an abandoned field.”
This time it was Hyrule and Wild’s turn to stare in absolute bafflement, their matching horrified expressions settling onto Legend, who shrugged.
“Not everyone hasprofessional gladiatorial combat, Legend. Some people need to find a creepy hole in their backyard and jump into it.”
Three pairs of shocked and confused faces turned to the source of the new voice, a bedheaded Wind who, judging by the way he’d been rubbing at his eyes, had been struggling in and out of sleep for some time now.
“But even then, I’d still rather train with Orca. He’ll lay me flat on my back and bruise me to hell and back but at least he’s not gonna kill me. You guys need some serious help. Besides, the best way to vent negative emotions is by committing mass genocide against the Big Octos using a ship-mounted canon. There’s nothing like the smell of black powder and calamari to make a guy feel like himself again. That one only has like a thirty percent chance of actually getting me killed.”
Legend, Hyrule, and Wild all just stared at him.
“What!?”
Legend, Hyrule, Wind, and Wild all jumped at the owner of the fifth voice, Sky, sitting upright, still half-in his sleeping bag but looking perfectly awake as he gawked at Legend.
“That was not what I expected you to say! None of that is what I expected any of you to say!”
Four pairs of eyes blinked at Sky.
“Okay, Wind wasn’t too far off the mark, but Legend, are you kiddingme? And I don’t even know where to start with Wild.”
There was a moment of silence before Hyrule finally spoke up.
“So what do you do, then?”
Sky turned to look at him, compassion welling up with the firelight in his eyes.
“When you feel like you’re on the verge of breaking, what do you do?”
Sky sighed, his gaze drifting to the distant desert horizon.
“I’ve let myself be angry. I’ve leaned into it, let it sink its fangs into me. I’ve been so, so, unbelievably filled with rage that I didn’t know where the fury stopped and I began. There wasn’t a thought in my mind, just the thunderous crash of lightning and the rushing in my ears as I stood up again and again, not caring as I felt myself struck back to the ground, soaked through to the bone. And I’ll admit, it’s an amazing feeling, dragging yourself back to your feet again with nothing but the sheer conviction that this isn’t where your story ends. But you’re supposed to try and avoid getting knocked to the ground in the first place. It’s already hard enough when you’re trying not to get hit and at least in that case you get better at defending yourself. You’re already gonna get beat up enough. Don’t go looking for it.”
Wild and Legend opened their mouths but Sky cut them off, continuing.
“You know what I think? I don’t think you like venting your emotions through violence because it makes you feel powerful, or it’s somehow cathartic to you. I think you do it hoping you’ll get hurt in the process. That what you fight will fight you back and knock you down and so you’ll finally look on the outside how you feel on the inside. I think you want to fight something that you can see so you feel vindicated about just how hard you’re fighting on the inside. Because when you win those fights, you don’t feel relieved, or satisfied, or even proud of yourself. You feel disappointed. Because it was over too fast and it didn’t hurt enough. So you start looking for more. But it’s never enough. And leaning into the rage only fosters it, only makes it stronger, and soon you can’t even remember what you were mad about anymore because being mad feels good and hurting and being hurt feels good. It’s simple. It’s easy and it’s mindless.”
Legend and Wild looked away, staring at the sand, Wind and Hyrule now watching the pair with wide, worried eyes, Sky still continuing, undeterred.
“I almost lost myself to that. It was so easy to just throw myself blindly into the next battle. It makes it so easy to just forget about everything. But it doesn’t help. Venting the fury doesn’t put the fire out; it fans the flames. No number of wins or losses was ever enough to get it out of my system. I can’t live like that anymore. Not ever again. Honestly? I’m terrified of what would happen if I let myself succumb to that kind of rage. Of what I would become. So, to answer Hyrule’s question, when I feel myself breaking, on the verge of shattering either myself or something else, I practice my sword forms. I still get my blood pumping, feel that satisfying exhaustion sinking into my bones, but my focus is on precision, accuracy, technique, not on whether I’m going to kill or be killed. It doesn’t feel the same, not at all, but that’s exactly the point. It’s not about releasing the rage or about stuffing it in. It’s about turning it into something else or, rather, seeing it for what it truly is. Maybe you’re tired. Maybe you’re sad or scared or frustrated or can’t escape that one sound you hate more than anything in the world, I don’t know. But a familiar exercise, something constructive, has a way of making things make sense.”
Sky stopped, then, reading everyone’s expressions, trying to gauge whether or not his words had had their intended effect.
Hyrule stared into the sand, his voice quiet.
“I don’t know any sword forms.”
Sky straightened, his eyes bright with a warm, giving sort of hope.
“Well that’s not a problem at all. I’ll just teach you some of the ones I know.”
At the way Hyrule’s face lit up, Sky smiled, pulling on his boots and drawing his blade, finding a relatively flat spot in the desert and kicking some of the sand around to flatten it a little further before evidently finding it sufficient.
Wild and Legend watched from their bedrolls, eyes wide with curiosity, Wind already pulling out his own blade, jogging over with haphazardly hushed excitement.
“I don’t know any forms but I learned some really great moves that are super fun to practice! Is it okay if I help?”
Sky nodded, inviting Wind to come stand by his side, Hyrule standing in front of them, looking a delightful mix of excited and determined until he caught Legend and Wild staring at him in his periphery and shifted self-consciously.
Wind scowled at them.
“What are you two gawking at?”
Legend didn’t say anything, but didn’t look away either. Wild explained himself.
“I’ve forgotten any formal sword training I might have had. I know there were forms I learned, once, but they’re all faded and trying to puzzle my way through the muscle memory only frustrates and confuses me more.”
Sky nodded in understanding before turning to Legend.
“You’ve been trained, though, right?”
Legend looked away. Sky’s face melted into horror.
“You told me you’ve been adventuring since you were ten. Please tell me you were trained.”
Legend huffed out an unfunny laugh.
“Definetrained.”
Wind gaped at him, speaking before Sky could. “Did anyone teach you any moves before giving you a sword? Like all the different ways you can swing or how to get past an enemy’s guard?”
Legend’s eyes fixed on the horizon and he tensed, his voice nearly impossibly quiet, but it carried nonetheless in the silence of the night.
“There are multiple ways to swing?”
Sky and Wind stared at him in horror.
“Legend,” Sky started carefully, “what do you do when you can’t get past an opponent’s guard?”
Legend finally turned to face Sky, meeting his eyes with a defensive confidence.
“I set them on fire.”
“And if you’re out of magic?” Wind prodded, eyes wide with concern.
Legend shrugged, looking away again. “Keep hitting them. Hopefully back them into a wall or off a cliff. Sometimes I’ll merge into the wall and slip behind them before popping out and getting a solid strike in before they manage to turn back around.”
Sky looked between Wild and Legend, coming to a decision.
“Would you two like to learn some sword forms, too?”
Wild nodded slowly, tentative hope brewing in his eyes. Legend, gaze steadily averted, looking to be barely holding back a sea of emotions, rose to his feet, blade in hand, coming to stand by Hyrule’s right side, Wild taking his left.
“Alright,” Sky started, scanning his three new pupils with a warm careful eye, already proud, “start with your sword sheathed.”
Legend was with Time when the meeting was nearing it’s start.
Rarely did they gather in such a official manner, preferring more casual settings. But then again, it was a occasion of great significance.
“Oh, look who decided to show up.” The veteran was sitting on the conference table, looking up at his fellow advisor with a unimpressed glance.
“Fancy meeting you here.” Warriors’ irritation was immediately noticeable.
“What nonsense are you going to spout again?.” Was the answering reply, moving into the room and taking a seat to the left of Time, who was taking the moment before the meeting started to get some work done.
“You didn’t seem to mind it when my ‘nonsense’ got you that shiny car.” Legend came the sharp grinned retort, to the former war captain’s annoyance.
“Look here-”
“Why’d you called us Vet?” Wind interjects, having arrived a few minutes earlier, his head resting on his arms, boredly watching the two snip at each other.
“I was hoping to go check out Fonzo’s wares today.” He continues, tapping his fingers on the table.
“Literallyanything that bastard has, you can steal yourself with half the issues.” Legend throws back with a roll of his eyes.
“Yes, but I don’t want to.” Wind whines, closing his eyes.
“That’s because this world made you absolutely lazy you little sack of-”
“Is there a problem?” Was the first thing Twilight asks when he walks in, Sky quietly following behind, curiosity clear on both their faces.
“Maybe, likely not.” The veteran shrugs, turning away from Wind and examining his nails with disinterest.
“What’s going on? An attack?”
Time looks up and nods to Hyrule in greeting, looking his shoulder and spotting Wild sulking behind him.
Time just gave Wild a look. “…You tried to steal Hyrule’s sword didn’t you.” It wasn’t a question.
“…Four won’t give me his to spar with…” he grumbles.
“And I never will.” The blacksmith replied confidently, patting his arm as he walked passed them. Wild huffing in response.
Everyone takes their seats. Legend still sitting on the table, legs kicking in the air.
“Well…” Time taps the tip of his pen on the table and looks at Legend.
“We’re all here.” He eyed his advisor with curiosity. “I doubt you would waste our time so suddenly.”
“Well the best things arrive suddenly .” Legend says vaguely, taking out his phone.
“Well I certainly hope it’s worth the wait.”
Legend hums. “I’ll let you all be the judge.” He taps the screen a few times, crossing his arms again and remaining silent.
Watching them.
Time wants to question him further when his phone.
Whenall of their phones ring.
They look at each other and at Legend, who wasn’t saying a word. Each pulling their phones out and checking the message they received.
For a brief pause, there is no sound, of breathing, of movement. Everything was still.
The next moment, as an explosion of cries erupted, Warriors added to it as he slams his fist on the table with a loud bang, swiftly grabbing the veteran by his shirt and pulling him to his face.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING AT?!?!” He roars at him.
“Gettingawfully tired of you grabbing me like this captain.” His hiss suggested he was close to responding to War’s actions.
“I’m getting tired of you doing shit like this.”
“And this world has warped your mind if you think I would ever joke about this.” Legend’s grin was full of teeth and warning.
“Don’t make me laugh.” He roughly shakes Legend once. “Out of all the days, all of them! The one day you skip out on work to go to class, a class you didn’t even want to attend, you find her.” Wars barks a laugh, it was almost unhinged. His eyes swirling with doubt, fear, desperation.
“You…youfind her, without even trying! You…” he shakes his head slowly, the twisted look of disbelief and anger clear for everyone to see. “You can’t be that lucky. Not like this. You just can’t.”
Legend grimaced at his words.
“Believe me, if I hadn’t taken that photo right there, if I didn’t have proof to tell me it wasn’t a trick. I wouldn’t have believed that it happened.”
“How could she appear now….” Everyone looks over to Hyrule.
Hyrule’s voice cracking with emotion, tears welling up in his eyes. His shaking hands weakly holding up his phone.
“Whynow?” He asks desperately, to who was unclear. “Why after all this time?”
Anyone outside this room would have assumed Hyrule didn’t want her to appear, by the way he acted.
But the eight of them knew what he was really asking.
Why had it taken so long to find her? Why did they have to wait for so many years?
“I can’t tell you why,” Legend answers slowly, still held in the captain’s grip.
“We are nothing but strangers to her.” A thought that hurt to think.
Everyone took that in, each of them taking in the image in their phones.
She looked so carefree, so relaxed, so very very beautiful.
“She looks so happy.” Sky breaths out, bringing the phone closer to his face, as if it would allow him to reach her.
“Still the same beautiful heart.” Legend says softly, Warriors slowly letting go, a crooked frown on his face, a silent apology in his eyes.
Legends snorts softly and punches his arm hard. Smirking softly at the annoyance he received.
All was forgiven.
Their memories of their last moments with her still sting, even after so long. Their failure so much obvious now that they have a photo of her without the burdens they placed on her.
For a few minutes, they all stewed in their thoughts. Guilt, shame, regrets, hope, excitement and joy. All of it combined inside them.
“I don’t care how long it’s been.” Wind whispers, his eyes still staring at the picture.
“We found her, she’s here.” He looks up, joy in his face visible.
“How can I care about anything else when she’s here?”
“W-We should bring her here!” Sky suddenly exclaims, head shooting up to look at everyone.
“We have all the space, power, resources, and influence to keep her happy and safe!” He looked at everyone, setting his sights on Wild, whose eyes matched the former sky knight’s, swirling with anxious anticipation. “Do we have her address yet? Perhaps we can said a security detail to watch over her while we arrange a room for her, she can stay-”
“We can’t.” Legend immediately interjects, shaking his head.
Sky flinched back at the rejection, gripping his phone so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.
“B-But-” Dropping his phone on the table, Sky placed both his hands on the table and stands up.
“She can’t stay out there!! It’s dangerous!!”
“We can’t.” Legend repeats himself, his voice dropping a pitch, shaking his head firmly, he gazed at Sky with warning.
“But she’s safer with us!” He throws out, frowning deeply at the veteran.
“And with all due respect, how come you get to dictate what we should do when it’s obvious we need to protect her.”
“We. Can’t. Take. Her.” Legend slowly growls out through gritted teeth.
It was then that those who sided with Sky began to jump in.
“That’s not fair!”
“Please Legend, be reasonable!”
“Look, maybe if we-”
“Just-” Legend slams his own hand on the table, louder than Warriors’ had been, catching everyone’s attention and silencing them.
Time watches everything in silence.
“Welost her because we were fucking greedy.” He growls out between clenched teeth, his voice full of barely repressed anger.
“Has this world honestly dulled our senses that we cannot even agree on a logical course of action?? Has this world blinded us to our own MISTAKES now that we have some sort of foothold that we feel the need to arrogantly lord it over others? To use it against Her Will? How DARE you!!” They all flinch, Sky looking away.
“I want her here.” Legend points straight down as he bluntly says this. “I..l want her here so much.” And it said how much he meant it when his voice cracked for a moment and he kept talking.
“But I’ll be damned before I let us repeat the same mistakes.”
He looked straight at Sky, crossing his arms, making sure the former knight of Skyloft could see the not so harmless rings he always wore on his fingers.
“What I said back then on Outset still stands today.” He leans forward and makes sure everyone is looking at him.
“I won’t hesitate to kill anyone that takes her away from me.” He spoke with a voice he only reserved for enemies.
And depending on what they decided to do, that is a strong possibility.
It was a battle of wills as Sky stood his ground. One staring at the other, both waiting for the other falter. Who won would decide the other’s decision. Both deadly opponents, both with strong wills.
The warning Legend gave seemed to register within Sky at that moment through. As after a few minutes, he looked away. His expression full of devastation.
Legend draws back, his shoulders almost unnoticeably relaxing. “Don’t force my hand.” He says calmly, looking away.
“Look, we can’t make the same mistakes again.” He looked at Time. “If we do, there will be no more chances.”
He took in a deep breath. “The reason we can have a second opportunity at all, is because we got lucky.”
Not even Time could hide back the flinch that escaped him at the veteran’s truth.
“It was a fluke. A goddamn fluke. A chance so rare and impossible that, it happening a third time? Is so laughable that even Ganon wouldn’t even consider it worth even a second of a thought.”
A grimace appear on everyone’s faces at that thought. Including Legend’s.
He sighs loudly bring the attention back to the topic at hand, “If we fucked this up, it’s over. No more second chances. Not a single thing would be able to replicate the events that gave of this opportunity.”
He looked at Sky directly. “And you want to risk our last chance to do right by her?”
Like he had be struck, Sky practically fell into his seat, staring down at his weakly trembling hands, his face so very pale, so horrified, at the thought of never having the chance to see her again.
“I…I didn’t…"he looked raised his head and looked at the right before him. All looking as pale as he knew he was.
"I just…I didn’t mean to…I just want her here…I would never suggest…” he couldn’t say anything, unable to form proper words.
“I know.” Legend said quietly, his expression almost gentle.
He inhaled quietly and turned to Time, who was eyeing him with a bit of weariness from his previous words.
“I know we want to rush things but we need to be patient. We need to put ourselves in her good graces, those who have classes with her can get to know her, find an opening to start an interaction. Once she’s more comfortable, we can start introducing everyone else.” He frowns, looking at Time, eyebrow raised.
“… Acknowledged.” Time simply says, understanding in his eye.
He then cocks his head, “Though I will say, despite my agreement with your suggestion, we still need to gather information.” Sky and those who agreed with him perked up at their leader’s unexpected decision. Time held a hand up when the veteran opened his mouth to argue,
“The more we eventually grow close to her, the greater the chance our enemies could come for her. We need to know this information for such a possibility. We won’t do anything with it,” he says this with a stern look to Sky and his accomplices, who looked away from his gaze. “But I would rather be safe.”
Legend looks at him with a pinched expression, before sighing and turning to show his back to the others, signaling he was done talking. He no longer cared for that topic. Time agreed with what he said suggested, the others would follow his decision, even Sky, despite wanting the contrary.
He’ll just have to make sure they don’t try to find loopholes. They will never break a promise, not to each other, and especially not to (y/n).
Toeing the line between keeping said promise or breaking it on the other hand…
Well, that’s a risk all of them would take.
“Wild, I want our most trusted to start gathering information.” Wild straightens up and nods, looking back at his phone and tapping away.
Time looks over at Wind.
“Can you see if you can scout out around her neighborhood?”
“You say that like I won’t make sure I do.” Wind smirks cheekily, his eyes brighter yet darken then ever before.
Time smirks in good humor. “Warriors and Twilight -”
“We just ordered one of the scouts to look through the school files and another to examine the teachers.” Twilight said, holding his phone up, shrugging when he got a look in response.
“…Anyone that goes to that school, please keep an eye out.” Time looks at Sky, thoughtfulness in his eyes for a moment.
“Didn’t you and Hyrule mention at one point that you both wished to attend classes for a bit?” He brings up. “Seems like the best time.”
Sky and Hyrule looked at each other, a silent conversation being held, excitement and anticipation slowly growing in their eyes as the 'conversation’ continued.
“Never too late.” Sky says shakily, still upset by the rejection of his idea and Legend’s words but eager to gain any opportunity to be close to (y/n).
“You know you might not get a single class with her right?” Wild mutters to them, tapping away at his phone.
“I-I’m aware.” Sky throws back, voice cracking at the possibility of another wall in his path.
Hyrule is twiddling his fingers, “I mean…I have been considering…” Hyrule’s mind already thinking up gifts to make for his darling.
“I guess I’ll join the sailor with his search.” Four says with a exaggerated sigh, smacking Wind on the back.
“Don’t trust me on my own?” Wind jokingly asks in offense.
“Never.” Four smirks back.
After some talking amongst themselves, the seven leave, setting off to begin their tasks.
Legend and Time left in the large room.
“I don’t believe they were prepared for that bit of information.”
“Neither were you…” the veteran starts off slowly.
“?”
He sighs, “The waiting game is both over and just beginning.” He points towards the doorway.
“Whether or not they’ll behave is not something I can predict. We need to stay on our toes.” Time grimaced in response.
Time looked down, taking in (y/n)’s image in the photo, could almost hear her beautiful laughter, almost feel her hugs.
Soon. Soon she’ll be with them again. Nothing will ruin it. Not him, and not the others.
He wouldn’t allow it.
“All we can do is prepare.” Tapping his finger on the table.
“Yet despite everything,” The corner of his mouth curls up. A faint smirk visible only to Legend.
“She is worth the wait, and most importantly, worth waiting for.” He looks at Legend.
“I won’t allow our mistakes to be repeated.” He clenched his fist tightly.
“Iwon’t allow it.”
Because there wouldn’t be another chance. This was their only chance to make amends, even if she hadn’t know them in this life.
“Ican’t allow it.” Legend nodded, a faraway look in his eyes.
“Yeah…” His voice was soft, his expression calm.
“Neither can I.”
…
…Glad to know they were on the same page.
—-
-Some Time Passes…-
—-
…
….
…Fi burned him some days.
The same way she would burn any of her masters, or anyone in general, if they used her to attack one of her wielders.
In a way, he appreciated it, almost welcomed it, despite his discomfort. It kept his mind from crossing to dark territories.
The way the pain would slowly, but inevitably, pierce through the haze of his thoughts.
He loathed how it was a necessity though. Loathed how Fi gazed upon him and decided he needed to be handled carefully.
Then again, didn’t he deserve it? Didn’t they all? Didn’t he deserve to be treated like a prisoner being watched by their warden?
It’s not like he blamed her, in fact he understood why she monitored him as she did.
Fi cared for (y/n) as well. Adored her enough to refer to her as 'mistress’. Fi watched over her when he left her in her care. Protected her to the best of her abilities, whether placing an aura of light around her to shield her from monsters, or guiding her back to them when she got lost.
Perhaps this was her way of expressing her displeasure over his actions.
Over the actions of all her masters.
So he wasn’t upset by her choice. He understood all too well.
Fi was still so caring despite her anger. Had the roles had been reversed, he would have been worst, so much worst. He is fortunate that it wasn’t the case.
So he allowed her to ’boss him around’. Because he knew she only would if she suspected him of letting his thoughts cloud his senses.
He understood that the others worried about him as well. Worried that he would ruin whatever chances they could have in earning her trust again.
He understood. So very well.
But it didn’t stop how much he missed her.
She was so close now. So very close.
All he had to do was reach out and he would finally have her in his arms. She may not remember now, but maybe it’s similar to Wild’s memories, maybe she just needed to be reminded.
…
She was so very close. Legend saw her. Time saw her. All he had was a picture.
Why couldn’t he see her? Was he being punished? Maybe they assumed he had been busy during those times? Maybe-
Oh, Fi started glowing, he takes a few deep breaths.
He had to think calmly. They wouldn’t prevent him from seeing her. They understood how he felt. They all understood how each of them felt about her.
So it was simply bad luck that he didn’t get to see her.
He had to think of the positives.
Simply because Time and Legend spoke to her, doesn’t mean they got to hold her. They didn’t have the chance to earn her affection, they simply were the first ones to interact with her.
If he was lucky, he would be the first one to…to hugher.
Just the idea sent his heart racing.
The first one to have her call him by their unified name.
He just has to be patient. They had all the time in the world. And this world doesn’t have Ganon. No magic curse to fight against.
He can handle fighting vermin, people. They are just a more easily hidden type of monster.
Fi’s glowing brighter.
He and the others would keep her safe, they’ll protect her from this world’s cruelty.
Maybe this time they won’t be forcefully separated. Maybe this time no goddess or red eyed shadow will cause her disappearance.
They’ll be happy, together. Perhaps he and the others will finally be introduced to her family! (The ones who helped created this beautiful soul. To think he would possibly meet them, meet the ones who influenced and molded the girl he and his sword brothers loved so very very much )
’….’
It’s not like they were on a time limit. This time they really could go slow. Not rush anything. This time, they can do things right.
’M….’
They won’t fail this time. They won’t make her hate them. They won’t hurt her beautiful heart. She’ll be so very happy.
’M…s…’
She’ll want for nothing. They’ll provide the world for her.
’Master’
…Fi?
Sky blinked, eyes finally focusing on the present, mind now registering the burning pain on his back.
Sky shivered, removing the sword off his back and holding it in front of him. A small grimace at the sharp pain he felt as he gripped the blade’s hilt.
Oh, she wasn’t happy.
“I..I’m sorry. I know, I got lost in my thoughts again.” He mutters quietly to her. Her light pulsing rapidly, the pain he felt in his hand increasing and decreasing with each pulse. he could feel the lecture she was throwing at him.
“It’s..it’s just that we found her,” He says, he didn’t know if he was excusing his own actions or simply needing to tell her. “We found her and now she’s so close and I haven’t gotten to see her other than a photoand…”
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
“…and…I miss her so much.” Was all he could say, whatever words that had wanted to rush out fading into nothing. Fi wouldn’t fall for anything he said anyway.
The light dimmed slightly, a single pulse, less painful now, a request for assurance.
“I…can’t promise not to do something I’ll regret.” He was honest about that. He loved (y/n) too much, he genuinely didn’t know what he would do when everything was presented to him.
“I can only try.” He looked down at the sword.
“Just…guide me when it looks like I’m planning to fall without a sailcloth?”
There was no response at first, but the light of the sword slowly began fading. Dissatisfaction, but contentment.
Fi would accept his words for now. Good.
Sky heard a slam and a noise, and looked over his shoulder to see Warriors staring at him.
“What the hell?” The captain started, slowly, making his way into the room.
“…I’m just working.” Sky said quietly, sword pointed to the ground, clutching the hilt of the sword with both hands. As if he was trying to hide behind the sword.
Warriors knelt down and reached out.
“I said, ’to do what it takes to extract information from the bastard’,” he pulled his hand back and grimaced at bloodied, twitching and whimpering man. “Not practically killhim.”
Sky looked at the man he had been interrogating and really took in his condition.
Took in the blood splattered around the room, finally noticing the blood splattered on him.
Oh, he had gone overboard.
Warriors stood up and ran his clean hand through his hair.
“We’ll send him to Rulie to be healed.” He looked back at Sky, stern frown clear on his face. “I don’t want to see this level of carelessness again.”
Sky grimaced and looked away from him. “I can’t completely promise you that.” He’s been saying that a lot lately, hasn’t he.
“But you can promise to keep it to a minimum can’t you?” He throws back, crossing his arms.
Sky looked down for a moment, and nodded.
Warriors watched him carefully for a moment.
“Don’t let your excitement for her arrival rush things.” Sky looked back up and saw Warriors looking at him with a understanding look.
“Just be patient, every day is one step closer to happier times.” Sky didn’t reply back, merely sighing and replacing the master sword on his back.
Warriors turned back to the now unconscious bloodied man and tsk’d, eyeing the red pool growing at their 'guest’s feet.
“Well…you didn’t kill him so a warning is all I’ll give you. But be more careful, I’ll have to inform the old man if this happens again.”
Sky nodded, “Of course.”
“Now go clean up, I came to tell you Wild’s starting to make dinner.” A rule that had been implemented when they all reunited. Wild would make the main meals of the day and they made sure to share those meals together.
Time enforced this rule strongly, saying how they have been separated in this strange world long enough. And honestly, despite no regrets, Wild’s cooking brought home to them. So they made it a point to always try to be around for meals.
Sky hesitated, but Warriors nudged him to the door, reassuring him that he would ’clean up his mess.’
Sky sighed as the door closed behind him and he made the trek back to his quarters. Head in hand.
Everything was going to change now. Whether slowly or rapidly… he sighed.
That was up to their choices.
…
He really hoped they didn’t destroy this joy again.
Happy Pride Month! Here’s my pride headcanons for the Chain. (Not that I ever use them for nearly anything smh)
Time:Bisexual with a preference for women and Agender. Doesn’t really have the words to describe this though (He/Him, occasionally It/Its)
Twilight:Bisexual and Cis (He/Him)
Warriors:Heterosexual, and in the closet about being Aromantic. Cis (He/Him)
Sky:Queer, Poly, and Demiboy (He/Him)
Legend:Usually just says he’s Queer, but specifically he’s Gay and Nonbinary (He/Him mostly, occasionally She/Her)
Hyrule:Asexual Aromantic. Trans (He/Him or No Pronouns)
Wild:Sex positive Asexual and Genderfluid (They/He/She. Has a system to let others know what to use)
Four: Identifies as Pan. (Green is Asexaul, Red and Blue are Pan, and Vio is Demi.) Questioning their gender. (They/Them pronouns, although for not for the reasons the others think.)
Wind:Girls? Boys? Wind only knows: Be Pirate, Eat Hot Chip, and Tell Lie. Questioning his gender, though he hasn’t told anyone (He/Him)
Bonus:
Ravio: Prefers not to use labels (Any Pronouns)
Malon: Straight and Cis (She/Her) Best ally, helped Time figure himself out
y’all this was so fun. sketch a thing, switch your drawing device of choice’s display to grayscale, and then do shading to it but change the hue wildly and at random. i turned colors back on and fiddled with it until it looked good but y’all it’s so much fun. i can share the timelapse if you’re curious :D
Fierce Diety Hyrule would have the most badass Great Fairy wings.
YESSS THE FLAMING SWORD AND THE THUNDER SPELL
Imagine if he had this mass healing effect too, like an aura that restored his teammates health, or maybe it’s more nature related, like if flowers grew in his footsteps
I’ve been sick for the past few days, so have some headcanons:
Time: Most likely to hide illness, not out of a fear of showing weakness, but because he refuses to neglect his responsibility as a leader and protector. However, if someone (Twilight) calls him out on his illness jeopardizing his ability to fulfill his responsibility, he will usually submit to being taken care of properly.
Warriors: You’d think he’d be the most likely to exhibit symptoms of a man-cold, and you’d be right…sort of. When he was in the army, and especially because he was in a position of authority, he had to learn how tough out illness. However, if he’s somewhere where he feels he’s safe, he will definitely be dramatic about it.
Twilight: Objectively the best patient. Recognizes when he’s sick, let’s himself be taken care of, takes his medicine. Is likely to be more pensive and melancholy than usual, however.
Sky: He sleeps. This man is dead to the world until he is well again.
Legend: CLINGY. C-L-I-N-G-Y. I said what I said. Additionally, due to his terror of vulnerability, absolutely hates being sick and is also pretty likely to hide it as long as he can. Ten times grumpier than usual, but interestingly tends to lose his sardonic edge and just gets really quiet.
Wild: Tends to act pretty similarly to Time, but not because he’s hiding that he’s sick—he will genuinely not notice that he’s sick. You will never meet anyone less aware of himself in this department. He will just go about his normal routine until his inevitable collapse from exhaustion makes him finally question if something’s wrong.
Hyrule: Also an extremely good patient—he really appreciates being taken care of, as he never had anyone to take care of him when he lived all alone in an apocalyptic Hyrule. He also realizes how difficult it could be when SOME PEOPLE (*ahem*) hide their illnesses or injuries, so he’s not very likely to give much trouble in that department, unless he’s having a particularly low self-esteem day and tries to take care of it himself to avoid being a burden.
Four: Tends to get sick the most severely when he catches something for whatever reason—when he gets sick, he’s down for the count. Just has a terrible immune system. He also tends to get kind of loopy when he’s sick.
Wind: Takes illness like a champ—but perhaps a little too much like one. It’s often difficult to get him to sit still, even when he is sick, and he often tries to return to his normal routine way sooner than he should.
So I’ve been fiddling around with AI art recently, and last night I decided to run an experiment: without any photo references or art style preferences, I plugged in each of the Linked Universe Links’ names into the art generator, along with two words I associate with them. This is what happened:
redraw of one of the official sketches by Takumi Wada, that made me feel emotional, because ;) there is something beautiful in past meeting future, the original and the succesor. and i love jojo’s au desings and i love Wild and Hyrule friendship in general. ;D
Before deciding on Badass Hyrule idea for the Zine, i was entertaining several others, the lightning idea was my close second choice ;) but i felt more confident in drawing fire rather than lightning. xD
also, i thought i might be able to try and draw Marin for an additional character part of the zine, but… *sigh* didn’t work out. Though, I might just finish this one later, because i really liked the idea. uwu
So if you have ever talked with me about fan fic, I have probably told you thatMy Heart’s Forsaken Meby@sister-dear is not just one of my favorite LU fics, but probably sits solidly as one of my favorite fics of all time. Period. (See also: It is saved in my Kindle app.) And apparently the way I express my appreciation for some of the best fanfiction out there is to yeet surprise illustrations at their authors. I hope that’s alright, Sister!
But guys, seriously, if you have not read this fic, please go do so! It’s just a perfect little novella-sized package of adventure and feelings and amazing characterization and beautiful writing and I really just cannot say enough good things about it. And you bet I was itching to illustrate this scene in particular, because I do have a soft spot when it comes to Four proving how sentimental he can be. Just warms my heart!
So Sister, thank you for being such a stellar author! I am always excited when I see you’ve written something new!
