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Chapter Text

Link closed his eyes, knowing this would be for the last time as he hears his daughter putting his youngest grandson to bed. He had no regrets as he slipped off to sleep and smiled, thinking of getting to see Malon again. It had been far too long…

…Link blinked open his eyes staring at a ceiling he had not seen in many, many, many years. “FUCK!”

Taking several breaths, he sat up and looked down at his hands, hands that were even smaller than he first expected, his hands weren’t this small when he started his quest… were they? Looking around the room he noted that Navi wasn’t here either. Well then, he was early, now it was time to go see his father and figure out what to do… Link froze, his father was alive. He was alive.

Link took another breath. Okay, he was back, before Navi, before everything.

He took another calming breath; he could work with this. He had fore knowledge of everything, of two timelines and over a century of experience. If he started to fix things now… Link nodded. Time to talk to his father, get what he needed and then go get the Master Sword.

He narrowed his eyes looking at he far wall, if someone locked him in time again, he was saying fuck it and moving to Termia. He was not doing that again, and he’d tell the Master Sword that.

Plan settled, Link stood preparing to head to his father’s grove before falling over as he tried to straighten up. Well okay, first get used to being tiny again and then all of that. All of that and then… well maybe he could try to cut all of this trouble off at the start, before it could even start.

Chapter Text

Link looked over the entrance of Gerudo town as the Master Sword rested across his back. He had acquired all his supplies and had everything stashed in his bag so as to not be obvious about how well armed he was. Now to try and stop everything from happening, and of course have fun at the same time. If he had to do all of this again he was going to have some fun with it.

A young Gerudo guard looked down at him confused, “How in Din’s name did a Hylian child get all the way out here?”

Link looked up, and more up to smile at her showing off his missing tooth. Farore he missed being tall, “I’m here to talk with G-a-n-o-n. That’s how you spell it at least, not sure how to say it right.”

She blinked down at him, she was obviously new to guarding as she hadn’t quite gotten the ability to keep a straight face in the face of even the weirdest of situations. Although, he was rather good at getting bewildered looks even from the most experienced guards, he considered it a game at times, any time he learned new words was always considered a master level success. “No voe allowed.”

Link held back a grin, ready to start having fun, “What’s a voe?”

“You are.”

“No, I’m Link.”

“That is your name, you are also a voe.”

“What’s a voe? I think I’d know if I was one.”

“Hylians call voe men.”

“Well, that’s no help, what’s a h-y-lin,” Link carefully sounded out the word even going so far as to mispronounce it.

“You are.”

“If I was a hy-len I think I would know.”

A new Gerudo guard ran up to the pair, “Sister! A swarm of Leevers is approaching the town. Bar the gates!”

The first guard turned to the other, “A Leevers swarm? We haven’t had a swarm in decades!”

“There are five giant Leevers that are leading the charge. Bar the gate so the army doesn’t need to worry about any of the smaller ones making it into town while they are gone.” With that the other Gerudo vanished to warn the next gate.

The young guard turned to Link biting her lip, “I can’t let voe in, and Leevers are only in the sand. Just west is a series of caves, go hide there as the army deals with the Leevers.”

Link narrowed his eyes, “So once this swarm thing is going, you’ll explain?”

Looking worried to the west the guard nodded absently, “Once the swarm is gone, I’ll have time. Now run on somewhere safe, the caves to the west are safe as the Leevers come from the east.”

Link watched as the gate closed before turning to the east. Great another hurdle to get through.

Chapter Text

Deep inside Gerudo town a guard walked up to Ganon, “My king the army went out to deal with the Leevers swarm and found all of the Leevers dead. They were killed with a sword. All in one strike with the smaller Leevers sliced cleanly in half and the larger ones cleaved from their top to the ground.”

Ganon frowned at her, “Anisha, I want it discovered who did it, and bring them to me, such skill should be praised… and perhaps reminded to remain with their unit. No Gerudo was found there, right?”

“There was nothing dead but the Leevers and there was only one size of foot prints.”

“I definitely want to talk with this warrior. This level of skill is impressing and we need to make sure we don’t lose this warrior to her own pride.”

Anisha nodded, “I will alert the gate guards to be on the lookout while opening the gates for only lone warriors who might try to sneak into town.”

“Very good. I’ll be in the front room reviewing the maps and reports. We must do something before we have to go begging the Hylians for help. Like they wouldn’t give us the minimum of food and the like we need and demand everything in return.”

Grimacing Anisha nodded before heading out of the palace to speak with the guards. Starting from the most likely returning place a Gerudo warrior from the east and going around the town to open all the gates.

Chapter Text

Anisha stopped at the latest gate to look at the young guard there, “Tacka, open the gates but keep an eye out for someone who killed the swarm. Lord Ganon wishes to talk with them.”

Tacka nodded, “Understood.” Turning to the gate she opened the cross beam and pushed the doors open, only to stop and stare at what was revealed.

Link was standing just out of the way of the opening gate, covered in the blood of Leevers and Leevers flesh in his hair.

Anisha leaned back, “Molduga dung what happened?”

Link grinned at her, nice a new curse, he had no idea what a Molduga was but he’d find out “The guard said she’d explain what those words meant if the Leevers are gone. They're gone now so what does hy-len mean?”

Tacka and Anisha shared a look before Tacka offered the excuse, “Link does not know what a voe or a man is.”

Anisha frowned looking over Link’s form, “Link was it?”

Link nodded, not scratching at the dry, and itchy, blood all over himself, “It is.”

“Link please go with this vai. She will take you to someone who wishes to talk about the monsters you killed.”

Grinning wide, Link took the first step into Gerudo town, “Okay! Lead the way vai!”

“My name is Tacka, please call me that.”

Link nodded and followed close behind her as she led the way to the castle, awesome he was probably getting led straight to Ganon. Turns out taking out his anger on the Leevers was a good idea!

Chapter Text

Link barely managed to contain a grin as he looked to Tacka as they entered the room with Ganon in it, tugging on her pants like his kids and grandkids always did to get his attention, “Why is that vai dressed different?”

“That is a voe, and”

Link cut her off before she could say more, “But you said voe aren’t allowed!”

“He is Gerudo and our king. He is the only voe allowed in Gerudo towns.”

“You seem to have a lot of rules about vai and voe, which you still haven’t explained what those are beyond saying whose what.”

“It may seem to be that way but this is where we are going.”

Naboris shot a look over at the new pair entering the room, “What is this young voe doing here?”

Link sagged like the over dramatic child he once more got to be, “Can someone please tell me what a voe is?! You keep calling me that and I don’t think you’re being nice!”

Ganon blinked down at the young child, “A voe is someone who can sire a child, which this boy is not capable of doing yet so I see no problem with him being in the town. It’s not like we can send him into the desert. He is merely a child.”

Naboris nodded, “When we have to send someone to the Hylians they can take the boy with them if the people that left a boy in the middle of the desert have already left.”

Link blinked around at the people in the room, “What’s a boy? and nobody brought me out here.”

“You came alone? How did you get here then?”

“Like it’s hard?” Link rolled his eyes, “You just had to follow where the wind spoke and it led me straight here, well except when I had to stop at the places that water sings in the ground so I could have a drink.”

Ganon narrowed his eyes, “Where the water sings?”

“Yeah, you know the way it goes from really low up to high and just repeats in pairs of two with the lower the start tells you how long you have to play to get the water to the surface.”

Everyone was staring at him as Ganon spoke, “You can pull water from the ground?”

Link blinked up at them suddenly remembering how a lack of water and resources was one of the main reasons the Gerudo had gone to Zelda’s father when they first saw Ganon. Well this was promising, “Yeah? You just have to listen for it.”

“And you got here just stopping at places where you heard the water?”

Well now to make himself even more interesting and the Gerudo more likely to keep him around so he could bother… he means help, Ganon not go evil, “Well, not totally, there were a couple places I had to ask the sky for water but it wasn’t too often.”

Ganon narrowed his eyes, “What happens when you ask the sky for water?”

Link gave him a bewildered look, playing up the confusion he would be having if he didn’t think his songs were something everyone has, “It comes down? What else would it do?”

“Can you ask the sky for water for us?”

“Sure? I mean if you don’t want to I can, but I don’t know why you need me to do it.”

“The sky doesn’t listen very well to others. The Gerudo are in dire need of water.”

“Okay, if you're not good at it I can help. I mean there were a few places where the water sang from the ground nearby if you can’t hear them very well.”

“That would be a great help to my people.”

“Alright, will you tell me what a voe and hy-lan is after then?”

“The sun is still high in the sky and,” Ganon looked over the blood-covered child in front of him, “Let's get you cleaned first and we can talk more over the midday meal.”

Link scratched his chin, “I am getting itchy. Can I sing up the water from over there?” He pointed at a bare patch of ground nearby. He knew in the future there would be a well there and he could feel the water in the ground. It might not actually sing to him but with all the magic he’d done in his life he could sense where things like water pooled.

Ganon blinked but nodded, “Let me call for a bucket first so you have somewhere to put the water.”

Link shrugged, “Okay that would be easier.”

Tacka turned towards the door she had entered through, “I’ll grab some cloths to wipe off some of the blood and ask someone else to bring a bucket.”

Walking outside the room and to a patch of ground that will one day hold a well Link dug into his bag, thrusting his entire arm into the bag he after a bit of searching got a hold of Saria’s ocarina that she had luckily been willing to part with. He knew he most likely will never see her again as he was hoping to avoid the need for a forest sage so it was nice to have a part of his childhood still with him.

Ganon looked down at the ocarina, “You said the water sung to you, do you play that ocarina to summon the water?”

“Yeah, you need to sing or play an instrument to talk back to the water. I’ve always found the ocarina the best match to me. This is a gift Saria gave me when the wind called me to leave the forest.”

“The wind called you to?”

“Yeah, it told me that there was something bad that could happen unless I helped a G-a-n-o-n. Fire has been talking about what could be but I haven’t spent much time with it as I knew I needed to find G-a-n-o-n, whatever that is.”

Ganon blinked, “My name is Ganon.”

Link perked up looking up from the ocarina, “That’s great! Maybe the wind was talking about your problems with water. I’ll have to listen to it some more to hear if there’s anyone else that it wants to tell me about, and,” Link glanced at one of the torches that was currently unlit. “Maybe the fire will talk some more about the future, the shadows are showing me some things too, those look scary.”

Link internally winced, this setting himself up to be a prophet did seem like a good way to go, especially as he knew he would slip with fore knowledge but he hadn’t realized how silly it sounds.

Luckily Ganon didn’t seem to be focusing on how weird Link’s sources were but on what he was claiming they told him, “You know things of the future?”

“Things that could be. We can always change how the fire burns and the shadows fall. The wind took me to where I needed to be to help you with your fire and shadows.”

“Interesting. We must speak more later but Tacka has come back with the bucket and cloths, let's get you clean and fed before we talk more of this.”

Link nodded, putting the ocarina to his lips, some water, a wipe down, and some food and then he could try and make them explain what a voe was again. He wasn’t letting them off the hook that easy!

Chapter Text

Link looked around the room Ganon, Naboris, and he had entered after the summons by Ganon’s mothers during dinner. He had had the pair nearly pulling their hair out trying to explain the different genders without talking about physiological differences in what looked to them to be maybe an eight-year-old? He wasn’t quite sure how young he looked. He also had them starting to doubt if he really was a Hylian which was a nice unexpected bonus.

Ganon smiled down at Link gesturing at Koume and Kotake, “Link these are my mothers Koume and Kotake. Mothers this is the child I told you of. The prophet who speaks with the elements. Their name is Link and they come from the forest.”

Koume glared down at Link, “That is a Hylian boy. He should not be allowed here.”

“Yes,” Kotake nodded, “Far from our safe walls.”

“Mothers fae is but a child, there is no need to banish them. Their pronouns are fae/fer for they are possible fae as they are from the Kokri.”

Link pulled lightly on Gannon’s pant leg, “I thought you said Mothers go and find a man before coming back with a baby when you told me where babies come from, but you have two moms?”

Ganon smiled down at him, “They adopted and raised me when my mother died in a random monster attack many moons ago. As I was to be the Gerudo King it was their right, although my mother did care for me longer than most Gerudo King mothers do.”

Link tilted his, fae’s head to the side staring past the pair, he wondered how random the attack was. If Koume and Kotake had wanted their hands on Ganon sooner, they could have easily arranged a monster attack with their abilities over monsters. But fae couldn’t be certain that they actually were in any way malignant. It could have been an accident, but it sounded wrong to fer. “They weren’t your mother but took you as theirs when your mother died?”

“Yes.”

“Like the Great Deku Tree took me in and became my father?”

Everyone in the room stared at Link as Ganon asked, “Your father was named Great Deku Tree?”

“Well,” Link hid a grin at how funny this was going to be, to him no fer. If he-fae was going to pull of this whole not a he but fae then fae needed to dedicate himself, faeself, to the rule, “I think his name was Deku but since he was the biggest tree in the forest, he was called great so great might not be in his actual name but everyone called him the Great Deku Tree.”

Narboris blinked down at h-fae, “The tree was a man?”

Link pouted, “I still don’t get what that means.”

“He used the pronouns he and him?”

“Well yes it’s not like he could be a boom or a rok or a soms.”

“What is a boom?”

“I am.”

“Ah and what makes that different than a rok or a soms.”

“Well, I wear shorts like these and rok wears skirts or dresses and soms wear shorts but with a skirt that's cut down the side, although sometimes I am a rok if I’m really tired or a soms if I’m not sure if I want to climb trees or not. Although you don’t have many trees.”

“So, you're usually a boom but sometimes the others depending on if you want to climb trees or not?”

“Yep!”

“Is it okay if we just always use fae/fer or do you want different pronouns for your rok and soms days.”

“I don’t really get why you're so weird about how you talk about people with certain words, usually we just use names, so I don’t have a problem with it. You all are the ones making it complicated.”

“Right,” Ganon smiled amused before turning to his mothers, “Now you were interested in who defeated the swarm of Leevers and that was Link.”

Kotake frowned, leaning forward, “This boy beat an entire swarm?”

Link nodded.

“How?”

“Um, I hit them with my sword? Then they were in pieces so they didn’t attack again, well the big ones weren’t in two pieces but they stopped moving so I headed back here to find out what boys and Hylians are and to find Ganon.”

Koume tilted her head, “And you are unharmed?”

Link snorted internally, like some Leevers, even at his current size, would be a problem. Great for misplaced aggression though, “Yeah?”

“That’s impossible!”

Link blinked at her before looking down at his body, “I got sand in my tunic if that’s what you meant.”

Narboris snorted, “And a sandstorm worth in your shorts.”

“Well yeah but I didn’t get any sand in my shorts before that. Can we go? This is boring and their shadows are saying mean things.”

Kotake reared back, “What do you mean?”

“Well, that they really don’t like me, and I don’t want to get too close since I don’t know how to fight shadows in case they stop saying mean things and attack.”

Ganon blinked down at fae, “Shadows don’t attack people.”

Link gave the shadows behind the pair of old Gerudo a look, hoping to seed just a shred of concern or even just ill ease at having Link call the pairs shadows mean, “Are you sure?”

“I am. My mothers just don’t like outsiders so their shadows must not like them either. Koume and Kotake, we will take our leave if there is nothing else?”

“No,” Koume narrowed her eyes at Link, “Nothing today.”

“Alright, this way Link. Let's find you somewhere to sleep, it is getting past your bedtime?”

Link looked up at that, thinking that there was no way Ganon was going to give him a bedtime, “What’s a bedtime?”

“It’s when little Gerudo and Fae go to sleep for the night so they can be awake tomorrow.”

“But I’m not tired and I don’t have a bedtime.”

“You might not have had one in the past but in the desert, everyone has one, children just have earlier ones.”

“What's your bedtime?”

“When I run out of necessary paperwork for the day.”

“Could I help with the paperwork so you can have yours? Kokiri don’t have them but they sound important to Gerudo.”

“Well,” Ganon shot Narboris a look, “Let's find somewhere for when you are tired and maybe have something to drink before any paperwork. You do need to stay hydrated in the desert.” Ganon let the drapes that served as his mother's door fully close.

Link looked up at Ganon knowing he was planning something, but Link would need to know where he could bed down. Better not to sleep in weird places until most of the guards recognized him, “Fine, you can find me a room.”

Waking up the next day, Link frowned at the glass that was still sitting on the small stand that was next to the futon in the room Ganon had shown him to. Glaring at the glass he turned towards the hallway. They had used the warm cup of milk trick to help get kids to go to sleep and his small tired body fell for it.

Well, they were going to regret tricking a trickster.

Chapter Text

Link grimaced down at the bag they had been given. Everything would have fit in their bag but someone had seen them just shoving stuff in there and had made a big deal of not organizing things in their bag. Malon had also been annoyed by their habit of doing that. Although without the magic of their adventure bag giving them whatever they wanted when they stuck their hand inside, they could understand why Malon got annoyed.

Thinking about the journey ahead they grimaced, they’d really prefer to set off Kotake’s and Koume’s trap on their own but there was no way the Gerudo would let them go into the desert alone again. They were pretty sure the guards were going to assign them a guard just to make sure they didn’t decide to roam outside the walls, for the eighth time? Maybe ninth…

Ganon sat down across from them on a pillow opposite their bed. “You should finish packing; the caravan will leave after the sun finishes peaking.”

Sighing Link put another shirt in their bag, before frowning and glancing at Ganon before staring at their bag, “Are… mothers like really important? Where you’re supposed to always listen to them? I mean, you seem to listen to yours.”

“Mothers carry much wisdom and are the first guides a child will ever have. Why?”

Link bit their lip, “A bad wind is coming. It comes ever closer.” Link grabbed their next shirt, “It carries your mothers names.”

Ganon frowned, worried, “Do you think they are in danger?”

“No,” Link put another shirt in their bag, why had they given them so many clothes? Malon never made them own this many, it’s not like they were preparing for them to have a growth spurt. Link grimaced thinking about it, they still needed to find an excuse to explain why they would age, since they had said they wouldn’t, “It comes at their call. It draws near with each chant.”

“Are you worried about the trip? If you're worried about this caravan trip we can have you go with a caravan later in a year. Do you want to stay while this wind passes?”

“The shadows seek my blood,” Link shook their head, “The winds will come until they find it. I will go so they don’t find me here. I hope that this wind can be dispersed without spilling any blood.”

Ganon frowned, “If you’re sure. There will be more caravans, we send several each year.”

Shaking their head again, Link turned to grab the next item to pack. They froze when they saw what had appeared on the pile of clothing they still needed to pack, “The Stals take us.”

“Link?”

Grimacing Link picked up the Fierce Deity mask and rested it in their lap. It seemed they’d never be free of the mask, “The acorn has fallen, it doesn’t matter what we do now.”

Ganon startled, staring at the mask, “Where did that come from? I don’t know of anyone who makes masks in Gerudo town. Did you bring it with you? I haven’t seen it before now… so did you take it out of your bag to repack it?”

“No. I didn’t have the Fierce Deity's Mask until now.”

“What did you mean by the acorn has fallen?”

“Acorns make trees, they grow on trees and fall off where they eventually grow into new trees. It’s a Kokiri saying but it’s like when Lila said the die has been cast. The gods have spoken, we can only weather the storm now.”

Ganon frowned down at the mask in Link’s hands, he did not like it, something just felt off about it, “That’s a sign from a god? Just a mask appearing?”

“Nothing so safe,” Link’s sigh was heavy with their exhaustion from living far too many years as the gods plaything, “This is a god.”

Ganon stared at them, “The mask… is a god?”

“The Fierce Deity, they can only walk in another’s body. The more often you let them walk in your form the higher the cost, and the lower the chance they will return your form to you.”

Swallowing uneasy Ganon unconsciously leaned away from Link, and the mask and the aura it seemed to be emitting, “We should find a way to secure it then.”

Link shook their head, “There’s no point. They will go where they will,” Link felt every year they had lived, “I will put it in your work room. When it comes to fight the dark wind, you will know to send aid… healers and the like.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t bring it with you if you expect trouble?”

“They will come when the time is right. Better to have a warning sounded so you will know when the wind finds us.” Link stood and headed out of the room.

Ganon followed and watched uneasily as every person they saw froze when the mask entered the room, eyes tracking Link’s path, only moving once the mask was out of view.

Arriving at his office Ganon went to clear a shelf to offer a place to rest the mask when Link simply pressed it against the wall and it hung with no support.

Link closed their eyes taking a careful breath, “Do not let anyone touch the mask. They can not afford the cost it would take. Gods are not kind, most do not attempt to be cruel, but they know little of mortal needs and limits.”

“You were touching it.”

“I was chosen,” Link laugh had more in common with the one they had before they died, in a body that more closely matched the aches their age should bring. The laugh of someone who had seen far too much evil. That they were in the room with someone that might again be one of those evils did not help, “I will never be free of them. Even through death the Fierce Deity will follow me.”

“Link?” Ganon frowned, confused and disturbed.

Link took another calming breath, this one far more successful then the others, “I need to pack. Remember,” Link tried to smile at Ganon, they knew it didn’t reach their eyes, “When the mask vanishes from this wall, send aid.” With that Link left Ganon along with the mask they had thought they had finally escaped. It seemed not even through death would they escape the Fierce Deity.

Chapter Text

Link approached the leader of the caravan, Gina, a guard far higher in rank than would be expected to go with a normal caravan. The entire caravan had far more guards than normal, in direct relation to the amount of material they were guarding, and all were battle hardened warriors. Link was happy that Ganon had at least given some credence to their warning. They still expected casualties to happen in the upcoming battle but hopefully no fatalities.

Gina looked down at them, far down. They held back an internal sigh knowing how long it would take for their first growth spurt to hit. Which they still needed to find an excuse for why they were aging since they had said they were an immortal  forest child.

“What is it little one? Has Awlin said it is time to head out?”

They shook their head, “Not yet.” They were thankful when she waited for them to continue as they had to be careful picking their words, “The dark wind will strike soon.” Link’s hands tensed around the Fierce Deity’s mask in their grip, “Very soon.”

She nodded, “We will leave the sleds here and scout ahead then.” At their probably surprised look she added, “Others might doubt your warnings but I was there when the waters told you of the poison within them, when the winds spoke of the fire, and when fires told you of the dangers in the caves. I would have fallen ill to the waters, lost my home to the fire, and most importantly, my daughter was one of the girls you would not let into the cave where the lizafols lurked, having infested the cave for the first time in known history. If you say danger is coming we will ready ourselves.”

Link sighed in relief, one thing out of the way then, unfortunately the second would be a harder argument.

Gina nodded, “We will leave the carts here and scout ahead, you should remain here and guard as we seek this wind.”

“No,” Link looked down at the mask in their hands, “The gods may ask horribly prices for their aid, but when the cost is in lifes there is no question if the price is too high.”

She furrowed her brow looking at the mask that somehow felt dangerous, “What’s that in your hands?”

They didn’t look up, “When the wind strikes, I must lead. Fierce,” Link grimaced holding the mask in front of themselves, “The best option is to have them lead the group.”

“Are you certain?” She frowned down at him, “It is custom for me to lead the way.”

“Allies are at your back and enemies lay before you. That is what they see.”

“Alright you may lead, but if they do not come you will fall back.”

“Agreed.”

She frowned as Link sat with whatever that mask was and seemed to start meditating. She didn’t like this, but that mask… she would let him lead.

Chapter Text

“Arid Airs,” Someone swore, looking over the swarm of monsters before them. There were monsters for as far as could be seen, “How did so many get together? Why aren’t they fighting?” 

Link grimaced, the Fierce Deity's mask heavy in his hands, “The dark wind comes at the shadows call.” 

Gina grimaced, “They are headed to Gerudo town, aren't they little one?” 

“That is where the mothers of shadows rest.” 

One of the guards looked at Gina, “What can we do? There is no way we can defeat these numbers.” 

“We’ll send a messenger back so Gerudo town is warned but we must slow them so the message can be carried. Ila go.” 

One of the smallest guards, their fastest surfer, turned and without another word raced her sand seal back the way they had come, going far faster than they had been going. 

Gina took a deep breath, “We will need guards in the town. If your child is young go. Those who stay know that if you die, you die with honor under Din’s watchful gaze.” 

Link held up the mask about to dawn it, before turning to look at Gina. “Fight with your sisters, as long as sisters defend sisters, none will die this day.” 

Even as many of the guards tried to say their name, Link turned and placed the mask on his face. 

All of the women jumped backwards at the scream Link’s young form let out as lights seemed to stream around them. For all the transformation took mere moments the scream would echo in their ears for many moons. 

“Din.” Someone swore as they saw the form Link had turned into. 

The Fierce Deity towered over even the tallest Gerudo as he looked over them. Their white eyes scanning all of them with a completely blank expression before turning forward to face the hoard. They spoke, a voice deeper than any had heard before, “Follow as you will.” 

With that the deity burst forth quickly reaching the hoard and with his dual bladed sword left nothing but the smoke of dead monsters in their wake.  

Gina swallowed, watching the wanton destruction before centering herself, and calling to her fellows, “Come around their flanks, let no monsters flee towards Gerudo town. Stay in your groups. When he stops, and the monsters have fled or lay dead, return to the sand seals here.” 

She did not wait for an acknowledgement of her orders as she ran towards the slaughter, she would not let any monsters flee towards her home.

Chapter Text

Fierce Deity looked down at Gina, “I will remain until we reach the town. The child will need more care than you can provide at this time. My remaining will not cause the child more ill; it is the transformation that causes the illness.” 

Gina nodded, “Alright. We will tend to our wounded and then head back to the oasis. Once we meet up with the caravan we will rest for the night before heading towards the next rest location.” 

Fierce Deity shook his head, “There will be no need to rest.” 

“After the battle we will not be able to continue without rest, it will be early, but we would not make the next rest location before the sun peaks if we did push through.” 

“Those who follow me will not tire, neither beast nor mortal. We will be able to make it to your town within four days.” 

“It’s a seven-day trip back to town without any sort of weather disruption.” 

“Din will watch our travels, and no storm will strike us.” 

“Okay, but we cannot travel when the sun is at its highest, that’s just asking for heat stroke and other illnesses from dehydration.” 

“Dehydration?” 

“We need to consume a certain amount of water, or we will get sick, if it gets bad enough, we could die.” 

“Then we will rest when the sun is at its highest point so you may consume water before continuing on.” 

“We need to stop more often than that, and we risk burns from the sun if we travel during the hours the sun is at its highest.” 

“You will come to no injury when traveling with me. We will stop to rest for water at dawn, when the sun is at its highest, and at dusk, if that is sufficient?” 

“I am unsure how your magic will work so possibly.” 

“I will inquire as we travel if more breaks are needed, but for now, tend to your wounded so that we may begin our travels. I will stand guard in case the vile sorceresses send more of their agents to stop us.” 

“Sorceresses?” 

“The sisters that wish to lead your people into a dark time. Now tend your people.” Fierce Deity turned from her and began to survey the horizon. 

Gina shared uneasy looks with the other women present before turning to care for the injured. This was not the time to consider the warnings of gods, but to tend to their sisters. There would be time to consider the gods’ words later.

Chapter Text

Link frowned down at the pool of water where they could see their reflection, they wondered if this was how it started last time. They hadn’t really been a fan of looking at their reflection since the first time they woke up holding the Master Sword. Nothing ever looked right. They had mostly gotten over it as they passed into fer forties but now they were facing it again. Expecting an old man to appear and not the face of a youth, but now they thought it might have been a good idea to look while they had been in those horrible three days. Which shit did they need to fix that?

They shook their head before looking back into the water wishing they had looked during those never ending three days.

Looking back at them was their youthful face but if you looked close enough you could see a thin line of red where each of the marks on the Deity’s masks sat, and on their forehead was a thin blue line tracing the pattern on the Deity’s forehead. Their eyes at least were still their own. They had missed the ease of depth decisions that two eyes allowed.

Ganon stopped beside him, “What are you looking at little one?”

They shook their head, “Nothing important,” ‘That I will never escape my fate.’

“I,” Ganon paused, “I need to thank you for what you did. If you had stayed back, or not used that mask, Gina and her shield sisters would all be dead.”

Link nodded looking up at Gannon, “I know.”

“The Fierce Deity?”

Link nodded again before looking down into the water again knowing their face was partially hidden from the tall man.

“They said, they said using him cost some of your immortality. That you would age.”

They blinked, that.. that was actually really useful. Had Fierce covered his ass about the fact they could age? That was really useful. Huh... they’d have to thank them later. “Yeah.”

“Thank you for making such a sacrifice for my people.”

Link smiled up at him, "As I said, there is no sacrifice too high when the cost is in lives."

Chapter Text

The King of Hyrule glared at Ganon, “Kneel King of the Gerudo.”

Ganon’s hand tightened into a fist, glaring at the king but before he could do or say anything Link spoke.

“Why?”

The king turned to them, “Who is this child?”

“I’m Link of the Kokiri and I’m here to represent the Fae of these lands.”

“Fae? We invited no fae.”

“This is a meeting of races; would you exclude us.”

“Y-.” Before the king could speak more than that an advisor leaned over and whispered in his ear, eyes widening he changed what he was about to say, “We would never exclude the Fae.”

Link smiles, “Oh good, so ma’am.”

The king flinched back before glaring insulted, “I am a man! I am King Deumi the third! You will not insult me little child!”

Link blinked unimpressed, “You're wearing a dress so it’s ma’am. King Ganon said not tree climbers are girls.”

“What are you talking about?”

Ganon rubbed his face, “The Kokiri do not have the same genders as the other realms.”

Link nodded, “Yours don’t make sense, like the Zora isn’t wearing anything but a cape and the Goron isn’t wearing anything! How do I know whose she/her and he/him if there are no clothes? Or when they're in the wrong ones?” Link started to sniffle.

The Goron Elder chuckled, “Little Fae it is fine. Genders of other races are always confusing but Kings are he/him and Queens are she/her. Also, the Hylian king has pants under his robe.”

“I have to guess if people are wearing pants?!”

Ganon rested his hand on Link’s shoulder offering them a piece of cloth, and when they didn’t take it too busy wiping at their eyes he started cleaning the parts of Link’s face he could reach. “I’m sorry Link, it has been a long trip. Let us finish the greetings and get to bed.”

“But why do you have to kneel when they didn’t?” Link pointed at the other races.

The Zoran King frowned, “That is a good question. The Gerudo may appear similar to Hylian but he is not one of your peoples. You should not ask him to bow. Or will you demand the Fae child bow as well?”

“Er,” King Deumi looked between the different leaders, “Of course not. I, I simply wish to welcome all of you to our meeting to talk about the trades and treaties between our peoples. Come, let my men lead you to your rooms.”

While everyone was looking away at where the escorts were coming into the room, Link turned and smiled at Zelda who was standing in the window. She giggled when he waved before following after Ganon and the other Kings.