Enjoyer Of Tri Force Heroes and Twilight Princess

The past five years I've participated in the whumptober challenge! I did half of 2021's for lu, and in 2022 and 2023 I did all 31 days for lu! You can find the list for 2021 here, the ones for 2022 here, the 2023 ones here, the ones for 2024 here and the ones for 2025 here (or find them all on my ao3 (see above), as well as some ao3-only bonus scenes!).

Kitty Wind, which is exactly what it sounds like. Wind touches Twilight's crystal, and finds himself as... a cat. A tiny, fluffy, adorable little cat. Needless to say, he isn't thrilled. You can find it under #kitty wind or read the fic on ao3!

LU Star Wars AU is also exactly what it sounds like, it's just a star wars au with the lu boys (and other zelda characters yaaaay). Not a lot yet, but three chapters are out so far (on tumblr and ao3).

A Royal Castletown Wedding is basically just me borrowing the my little pony wedding episode and turning into a goofy lu fic. Nearly finished!

Accidental Domestication, silly stories about the chain and wolves and them being Disney princesses, basically.

Scales and Gills, a collection of Mermaid Legend fics.

The Twilight Turns (true form au), which is a fic in which Midna returns to her true form much sooner than in canon. She and Link's relationship changes a good bit because of this. On ao3.

Pup is only two fics for now, but I have more planned for this idea! Dark Link goes back in time, and after the chain when they're too small to defend themselves. Unfortunately for Dink, he doesn't bet on them having protectors in the form of their predecessors.

Many Courses of Love which is a series of loz fics exploring the different Links and how they're loved (mainly zelink, but a few other ships, as well as familial love too :)

Up in Arms, a hyrule warriors fic in which Link loses an arm in the fight against the Dark Links.

Botw Dark Link AU, an AU I don't talk about much, but post-botw the Yiga decide to make a Dark Link in order to defeat Link himself once and for all. They, of course, screw it up.

Downfall IAU is just the incredibles AU only angstier. Much, much angstier. Here's the big ol' masterlist.

Tulin’s face falls a little then for some reason, but when Link looks at him, he manages to hold onto a smile. “How’s Zelda been? And... um, your daughter?”

“They’re... good,” Link replies softly, a painful sort of warmth filling him. “...As good as they can be, I guess. It’s hard to tell sometimes. But they’re all right.”

“I’m glad,” Tulin smiles, and turns to look back at the brightening sky. “...Do you know when you’re going to go fight him?”

“Today,” Link answers immediately. “No later than tomorrow.”

Tulin makes a trill of excitement, and he ruffles his feathers, giving a little hop in place.

“That’s great, Link! Is there any way I can help? I can come along, right? Me and the other sages too, we’re ready to help!”

Link smiles, but shakes his head. “I want you to stay here and keep your people safe, Tulin. I have your vow, and the other sages’ as well. I’ll be fine. It’ll be like you’re right there with me.” It’s too dangerous for you to come along.

And this way if I fail... Hyrule will still have a line of defense to fall back on.

Tulin droops a little, but he nods, a maturity in his expression that never used to be there. “...That’s right, I will. And my avatar will help you take him out, easy-peasy!”

“That’s right,” Link says, and stands as morning sunlight falls across the village. “...Thank you, Tulin.”

The Rito blinks. “What for?”

“For helping me. For stepping into your role. You’ve been a big help, and I’m proud to fight beside you,” he says with a small smile, and Tulin grins, and gives him a quick hug.

“I’m proud to fight beside you too. I know you can do it, Link!”

Link smiles, and ignores the sour note of doubt twisting his stomach.

He knows he’s ready. He’s planned as much as he possibly can, done everything he needs to do to prepare himself. But that doesn’t stop his thoughts from veering towards what might happen down there, how the battle might end.

He has the Master Sword, but last time... Ganondorf shattered it without a thought. Is it strong enough now? Can it really beat evil that’s been festering for so long? Can Link beat him, without losing another arm?

He swallows. Is it naive of him to think he can defeat an evil that countless people tried and failed to stop already? They fought a war trying to stop him. All the ancient sages, and Rauru, and Zelda couldn’t beat him.

What makes you think you can?

The sword on his back warms almost imperceptibly, and he breathes out as he follows Tulin to the general store.

Because Zelda planned this. Because this blade was created to defeat evil, and they didn’t have it back then. Because she’s been healing and strengthening it for more years than I can count, and her power goes with me in it.

Because I trust her.

And trusting Zelda has been easy for as long as he can remember.

His worries ease a bit, and along with Tulin’s upbeatness, Link feels better as he gathers the last supplies he needs, the sound of Kass’s daughters singing adding a pleasant note to the morning. Later he bids goodbye to Tulin and Teba and all the other Rito, and though not all of them know what he’s doing, they bid him a cheerful farewell.

He tries not to think about how it might be the last time he ever sees them.

A small ache goes through his arm, and he rubs it as he checks his supplies. He’s fully prepared to die doing this. A part of him is almost expecting it. As long as he takes down Ganondorf, it doesn’t really matter what happens to him, and he knows Impa and Purah can handle whatever needs to be done in the kingdom.

Stop that, he thinks firmly, giving himself a shake. You can’t just leave Zelda and Sundelion.

You have to at least try to live.

Link sighs, and looks up, scanning the skies. A distant shimmer twists through the clouds, and he follows it to the nearest Skyview Tower, launching up and landing on now-familiar fur and scales.

The Light Dragon stills her head, and Link settles down near the base of her horns, watching a thunderstorm rumble off in the distance.

“It’s time, Zelda. I’m going to end it,” he murmurs.

Zelda hums, and Link watches a distant flash of lightning as Sundelion pokes her head out of Zelda’s mane. She lets out a little chirp as she flies over to him, and he smiles, and greets her with a fond scratch on her head.

“I’m finally going to end it.”

He spends a while visiting the two of them, kissing his wife’s forehead, resting his own against hers for a long moment, wishing he could hear her voice again. Promises are whispered in her ears as he runs fingers through fur, and he memorizes everything he can about her.

Then he gently ruffles their baby’s mane, kissing her forehead too. He looks deep into her eyes, shades of blue and purplish-pink that shine like gemstones, and desperately cradles the piece of memory he’d been given in her tear.

Something of her was in there.

He’d heard a voice, not Zelda’s, not that strange otherworldly musical one. A child’s.

A baby. Their baby.

He hadn’t imagined it. He knew he hadn’t.

And the sheer hope that those few words had given him make him feel more ready to fight Ganondorf than anything else in his possession.

Sundelion coos, and Link kisses her head again, committing her to memory just in case the fight goes wrong. Just in case he fails.

“I know you’re in there,” he whispers, smoothing a hand along the side of her head. “Somehow you’re in there, Sunny. Even if you don’t know it. And we’re going to bring you and Zelda back.”

Even though every update he’s received from Impa has just been more news of no progress. Even if he’s starting to see the hope fade in her eyes, in the eyes of the others she’s added to their cause, replaced with a sad resignation.

Even if Mineru’s words still echo in his ears, her warning of the transformation being permanent tolling like funeral bells.

He still hopes anyway.

Sundelion looks back at him through her long lashes as he holds her, gaze still distant as ever while he brushes fingers through her mane. Then she abruptly licks his nose.

A startled laugh escapes him (he can’t even remember the last time he laughed), and then he finishes saying goodbye, placing a loose scale from her and a shard of Zelda’s horn into a pocket near his breast before skydiving below.

But before he goes to the castle, he goes to Hateno, and steps foot in their house for the first time in months.

It takes him a while to open the door, his fingers not quite willing to move. The floor creaks under his boots when he finally steps inside, and a now-familiar heaviness falls on his shoulders as he looks around. He came in here once after the Upheaval, but hasn’t come back since, too many painful memories soaked into every board and nail.

There’s dust on their furniture now. On the shelves and counter and floor. The flowers in the vase on the table are long dead, a few pictures crooked from the Upheaval’s quakes, and Link stands there for a long time, just looking at it all, and letting himself remember.

Then he carefully straightens the pictures on the wall. He blows dust off the table. He sweeps the floor, and tosses the shriveled flowers, placing a silent princess in the vase with plenty of water to sustain it.

Once the house is back in order, he walks out, and heads to Zelda’s room in the well. He places his book of notes on the dragons beside her diary, and runs a hand along the cover. If he doesn’t make it back, then... at least there will be a record of who the Light Dragon is. What she and their baby meant to him.

Then he finally heads for the Depths under Hyrule Castle.

If it’s the last thing he ever does, he’s going to kill Ganondorf. Nobody else is going to be hurt by him. Nobody else will have to grieve what he’s lost.

Hyrule will finally be free.

(...)

The Depths are always strange, and difficult to traverse at the best of times, but the ones below the castle are downright horrible.

Gloom coats everything, the pulsing red the only real source of light down here. Getting the singular light root helps, and the sages’ avatars grant a little light, but it’s still dark and awful and makes Link wildly uncomfortable. Getting through it all is a fight, mazelike ruins and caverns, countless monsters lurking in the darkness, gloom so thick in the air it makes Link ill.

He travels deeper and deeper, the weight of the earth above him seeming to press down on his shoulders. He starts to wonder if he’s just going in circles, his map unhelpful, every gloom-coated wall looking the same.

Worse yet is when the sages’ vows falter due to how deep he is in the earth. He notices their lights fading as he drops to a lower level, and ice forms in his stomach as they go out with silent flickers. They take his hope with them, and his reassurances to Tulin ring empty in his ears as he fights forward alone, running through more and more of his healing supplies, descending all the while.

He’s starting to think it’s never going to end.

Maybe he’ll just die down here, without ever even reaching Ganondorf.

Right as despair starts to sink its teeth into him, a concentration of gloom lights up below, different than the others. A flicker of hope reignites, and Link drops to what he hopes is finally the bottom of this awful place, gliding to a stop on the strange platform.

The gloom is so thick here he’s nearly sick, bile in his throat as he looks at the webbing of pulsing red. Ganondorf must be close, behind that mass of gloom that spreads outward like a mess of roots, or a many-legged beast, and he takes a deep breath.

It’s time.

Link steps forward, but before he can go any further, gloom swells, and solidifies into a swarm of monsters in front of him. More and more of them burst into existence, gloom twisting from the ground and creating dozens of beasts, eyes all fixed on him.

Link swallows, and draws his sword. The area is filled with monsters, all soaked in gloom, and a bead of sweat trickles down his brow. That’s a lot of enemies to take on alone, even by his standards.

This... may be too much.

The monsters rush forward as one, marbled skin gleaming in the dark. Link braces himself and raises his sword, but over the snarls and howls, a familiar cheerful cry rings out.

“You don’t have to fight alone, you know!”

Link whirls and the sages themselves appear and swoop to his aid, battle cries ringing around him as they land at his side. He stares in shock at them all, and Sidon grins at him, Yunobo pumping his fist in the air.

“How—”

“We felt the vows fade, we came to help!” Tulin interrupts, shooting a hail of arrows at the monsters that approach.

“You’re not alone, Link,” Riju says with a smile.

“We’re here to lend a hand!” Yunobo cheers.

“Or claw, as the case may be,” Mineru adds from her construct.

“Let us assist you!” Sidon adds as water builds on his spear. ”We shall take these beasts down! We shall save Hyrule together!”

Link looks around at them all, feeling a wonderful rush of gratitude as he meets their gazes, and nods, leaping into the fray with his friends at his side.

They may still be terribly outnumbered, but having allies to assist in fighting a near-army makes a big difference. It’s still a lot, but Link is much less overwhelmed as they fight together, using all of their abilities in tandem. He barely thinks as he fights, slipping easily into assisting whoever is beside him, and they tear into the horde, gloom bursting into the air as the monsters are slain.

Waves and waves of monsters reappear after dying, tougher foes bursting into existence from gloom. But Link and the others keep on, fighting viciously for their home.

He does his best to help all around the battlefield, assisting whenever someone falters, adding extra support to take down larger monsters. He ends up where Tulin and Yunobo are fighting together, and gives them a hand, keeping a moblin busy while they fight smaller foes.

Tulin shoots arrows at the monsters’ faces, and Yunobo runs in and swings at them while they’re distracted. Once the moblin is dead, Link covers Yunobo’s back until they clear their corner of the platform, and he runs to go help the others while Yunobo and Tulin catch their breaths.

Sidon bowls over a row of monsters as link runs up, and Riju shouts Link’s name, nodding at him. He gets into position as Riju snaps her fingers, and helps her aim, sending lightning right into the soaked monsters.

Electricity rushes through them and the puddle on the ground, the monsters screeching as they fade into dust.

Riju and Sidon continue on, and Link assists, occasionally darting away to help the others. Tulin flies above, shooting beast after beast, and surprises them with his winds, sending them right into Mineru’s powerful arms. She weaves through the battle, using the bulk of the construct to her advantage as Yunobo bowls over the taller beasts, and Riju follows behind, taking out any they miss.

All of a sudden Link realizes the platform is empty. No more monsters appear from the gloom, no more cries ring out.

The legion is defeated.

Link lowers his sword with a pant, and returns the smile that Sidon sends at him. Tulin lets out a cheer, but before they can do anything else, a roar echoes through the cavern.

It’s followed by several more, and something massive looms out of the pit to their backs, rows of wings and legs and a bitingly cold breeze. More shadows follow, all familiar, and to Link’s alarm the bosses of each temple rush out of the gloom and surround them, snapping pinchers and letting out chattering hisses, clattering footsteps and a nasty sucking, oozing noise.

The sages immediately form up, and Sidon tells him to go. Ganondorf is what matters, and they’ll handle this newest threat.

Link hesitates, looking at all his friends and meeting their determined eyes.

“Go, Link,” Riju says, and brandishes her swords. “End this.”