Chapter Text
The smell of ashes, burning flesh, blood, and corpses fill his lungs. It burns, the acrid stench of death and desperation feels like it’s burrowed its way inside his nose to stay.
The taste of the ashes in the air, the sounds of men, women, and children screaming as they run from the things that were supposed to save them.
The soft but deadly beeping sounds of the attacking guardians, as well as the death gurgles of their victims. All of it.
Link would never ever be able to forget it.
“Are you deaf as well as dumb? Get the princess out of here!”
“We got this, little guy. Get the princess somewhere safe.”
“Take care of yourself and the princess, my dear Link.”
“If you let her die, I will come back and haunt you. Take care of yourselves, Champion.”
Then….
Loss.
He doesn’t think, just grabs the princess’s arm and runs.
They keep running and running and running.
Monsters pop up, but Link slays them almost as quickly as they appear.
Just keep moving.
Keep moving, gotta stay alive.
Stay alive.
A slash, stab, and purple smoke surrounds them. No time to do anything but react.
Gotta keep moving.
The princess’s limp arm falls out of his grasp, so he stops, turns around to grab Zelda’s arm, only to be held back by the corpses of his former friends.
Their bodies are grotesque with the mark of Ganon’s blight.
Mipha’s lips pull back to reveal sharp, rotted teeth. Her beautiful scales were rusted over with blood, the head of one of his childhood friends on her trident.
Revali’s once proud, beautiful wings are molting, leaving behind blood stained feathers. His beak looks about ready to fall off, hanging on by a rotted strip of flesh
Daruk’s cheerful grin, that filled Link with the same overwhelming joy, was now a harsh rabid snarl. Flesh of his fellow Hylians was falling from his mouth, and his weapon was dripping with the innards of Hylians
Urbosa’s once long, luscious red hair was falling out in tufts behind her, the flesh of her face pulling away to reveal the skull beneath it.
“Are you even trying to save us?”
“What are you even doing? You’re wasting time. Does the princess know her wait is going to be in vain?”
“Loving you was what killed me. My brother will grow up loathing your very existence. My people will never forgive you for murdering me.”
“The princess will die because of you. You’re only delaying the inevitable.”
“Link…..”
“LINK…….”
“WHY HAVEN’T YOU COME TO SAVE ME YET, LINK? I’M SO TIRED. SO TIRED. GANON’S TOO STRONG. I CAN’T…. LINK….. SA-”
Zelda’s voice cuts off with a gurgle.
YOU’VE FAILED, HERO OF A WASTELAND. CHAMPION OF NOTHING. YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD. ZELDA IS DEAD. HYRULE IS MINE.
Cruel laughter fills the air around him, echoing out of the corpses of his friends. Zelda stands to join them, blood coating her broken, disjointed body, and hand pointing accusatory in his direction.
“You…..failed.”
His eyes snap open.
He’s snarling and panting, the Master Sword is lit up in his hand. When his attack is blocked by a familiar clang, Link finally registers where he is.
“ Sorry ,” Link mouths, finally sheathing the Master Sword. He looks up at the concerned Zora hovering above him. “M’fine.” Link mutters out. His hands are a bit occupied with the Master Sword and making sure he didn’t kick off his pants in his sleep.
The last time he came out of anywhere without his pants, people screamed, things exploded, and he was no longer allowed in one of the stables.
Kids are little monsters and the parents who birthed them are idiots.
Anyway….
The Zora doesn’t seem too convinced of Link’s well being.
"I have been trying to wake you for at least ten minutes now. You were thrashing and crying…I thought you were going to harm yourself”
“Sidon, I’m fine. It was just a nightmare. ” Link signs. He wipes the sweat that had been building up on his forehead and leans back against the headboard of the bed. Nightmares like this had been happening with more frequency since he had begun remembering his past. It was nothing to be too concerned about.
“You do not understand, my friend. I am not the only one who has been trying to wake you. Kodah and Kayden were both beside themselves with worry when they found that neither could free you from your nightmare.” Sidon explains, taking a seat next to the Hylian.
That, however, was probably something to be at least mildly concerned about.
Link was not a heavy sleeper.
Grasshoppers hopping on him in the wild are a frequent source of frustration, as they startled him awake with their…. Hopping.
“You look surprised. Do you normally have nightmares that badly?”
Link bites his lip, considering keeping this information to himself to deal with at a later time. In the end, he shakes his head no. Even the thought of Sidon looking disappointed in him, made Link strangely upset.
“ I’m a light-sleeper. Probably from all the time I spent as Zelda’s guard.” Link explains.
Sidon frowns and looks at the Hylian champion thoughtfully.
Link knows that look.
It’s the look Sidon always has when he suggests they go off on some sort of dumb quest. Link can never resist it because Sidon’s dumb shark mouth curves into the most beautiful smile Link has ever seen, along with the dumb sparkle in his dumb shark eyes. That are dumb.
Link really needs better words to describe Sidon other than “dumb.”
“ I swear to Hylia, if you suggest one more trip to Shatterback Point…” Link signs irritably.
“Oh no. As grateful as we all are, I think three times was enough Lynel hunting for you.” Sidon says, giving Link a pointed look.
If the tossing, turning, and screaming didn’t freak out any nosey Zora in the Domain, Link’s sadistic grin would have sent them running…. Or swimming… or whatever it is Zora do.
“ Not my fault that particular Lynel can’t handle a taste of it’s own medicine. Fucking prissy-ass monster….If you can’t take the shock arrows, get out of the water. ”
Sidon’s adorable snort-laugh when Link finishes signing, fills Link with a lightness that almost makes him forget the horrific nightmare he had.
Almost.
“You are, as always, a delight to talk about monsters with. But no. I was going to suggest just going on a simple trip down the river and then just see where the winds of fate take us.” Link raises his eyebrows.
“ You sure about that? ”
“I would not have offered if I was not sure. You seem like you could use the company, for however long, on your journey.”
“ But what about your duties? Your father?”
Sidon waved his hand dismissively
“My duties are not so important that Muzu or another Elder can’t take over for a couple of weeks. Besides...They owe me one.” Link’s confused face causes Sidon to chuckle. “I did manage to persuade one brave Hylian soul to come and tame Ruta, despite their protests. No one can deny that.”
“ Brave he says. Chaotic and foolhardy you mean.” Link signs with a wink.
“Potato, Tomato.”
Link snorts and sticks out a hand.
“You do know those aren’t the same things? ” Link signs.
“Well of course not, silly. One is a fruit, the other is a vegetable…. I think.”
Link’s heart feels full enough to overflow.
This might be a bad idea, but fuck it.
Not like Link hasn’t already had plenty of terrible ideas. Like the time he set a whole field on fire just to piss off some bokoblins. Or the time he poked a yellow chuchu just to see what would happen, Or the time with the honey and the bears.
Link mentally shudders.
He will never be able to look at bears or honey the same way ever again.
“Alright. Journey.” Link says, his voice is rough from disuse but this is a serious matter to be taken seriously. Thus, Link speaks.
“Thank you, my friend. You will not regret this.” Sido says excitedly. “Now we just have to let Kodah and Kayden know that you are, in fact, not dying and we’ll be good to go.”
“Wait. Now?”
Link was surprised enough that he verbally communicated it, rather than sign. Sidon’s eyes shone with excitement, disappointment at Link’s lack of reaction, then understanding.
“Unless…. Oh. I understand. I did sort of spring this on you. Apologies. I will allow you to get some rest and then in the morning, we can make arrangements for our departure.”
Sidon gets up to leave but Link grabs his hand.
“You don’t want me to go?”
“ Don’t want to be alone tonight.” Link signs. “Please stay?”
Sidon looks surprised for a second before he makes himself comfortable on the bed. His body is comically large compared to the small Hylian bed, but somehow they make it work.
Link drifts off back to sleep to the sound of Sidon humming a Zora lullaby.
He has not rested better
No, the Shrine does not count.
In the morning, when things are brighter and more hopeful, Link apologizes his ass off to the poor people who had to deal with him.
“It’s really no problem, Link. These things happen. With what you’ve gone through, it’s really not unexpected.” Kayden says with an empathetic smile.
“ Still, I should be better at-”
Kodah grabs his hands to stop him signing any further.
“Sorry, I know that was rude but Linny…. Linny… You do not ever have to apologize to anyone for what you’ve been through. Not ever.”
“ But weren’t you scared? I know I can be….” Link stops signing and looks away.
“No. No Linny, we weren’t scared of you last night, we were scared for you.”
Link swallows and nods.
Kodah sighs and rubs her head with a frustrated groan.
“I’m still not making myself clear enough. We’re your friends and we care about you. We were just scared that you’d do something to hurt yourself. His majesty has always had a way with making you see sense, I just figured he’d be able to help you somehow.”
Kodah and Kayden are some of the nicest people Link knows. If they say they were just trying to help, Link would be a fool to doubt them. Time to lighten things up.
“ Uh-huh. Help. Nosy-ass Zora.” Link teases with a small smile.
“Linny, you’re not subtle. Who can blame you though? If I weren’t married to the love of my life, I’d stare at His Majesty’s royal rump like it was the juiciest meal I’d ever seen too.” Kodah fires back.
“Oh, am I interrupting something? Are we talking about food?”
Speak of the Zora.
“Indeed, your highness. Link was just telling us how to properly enjoy a rump roast...whatever that is.” Kodah says smoothly, shooting a wink at Link.
Link wants to make an obscene gesture in return, but elects not to in front of Sidon. Kodah knows she’s won and shoots him a victorious look.
Meanwhile, Sidon perks up because of course he does.
“I do believe that is a traditional Hylian meal of raw gourmet meat served along with a choice selection of vegetables.”
Link claps and gives him a thumbs up.
“I’ve been brushing up on Hylian recipes. It wouldn’t do to have you be the only one doing the cooking on our journey, Link.”
Kayden snickers, but goes back to cleaning whatever the fuck it is that’s hanging up on the walls of their Inn as soon as Link shoots him a dirty look.
“Come now, let us pack our things and prepare for our journey!” Sidon cheers.
Link smiles and nods.
Later, when they’re on the road out of the Domain ( with a promise from Sidon to Dorephean that he’d be extra cautious on the road), Sidon asks what juice has to do with a rump roast.
Link sighs, rolls his eyes but doesn’t answer.
This was going to be a long-ass journey.