#dullweapons

the woods are cursed. too deep, too dark – the canopy devours sunlight, leaving scraps to fall to the forest floor. and it’s too quiet. even vervain, brave and bold, has gone silent and keeps his head low. 

SHADOW . yet another day being surrounded by doctors . it was never anything too invasive , but it was enough having him sitting on a table for them to run their ' tests ' , whatever they may be .

he's learned to try and not pay much attention - he doesn't want to overthink anything ; they found something interesting ? good for them . dangerous ? likewise . he only learned to put up with it thanks to maria calming him down afterwards .

but this . . . being left alone in the lab with ayrin ? he's looking around slowly - yes , he was talking to him . and - yes , he had been staring . more like glancing towards ayrin , but still . perhaps , among the times he shielded himself from that reality , he stared for a little too long .

to be caught in the act makes his ears twitch a little . straightening himself where he sits . he tries to stay calm and thinks : what would maria do in this scenario ? how would she handle this . . .

" i'm sorry . " but shadow , you're still staring . a quick few blinks and he's forcing himself to look away . he noticed ayrin had the same wires on his chest as he did . " are they running the same tests on you ? " maybe he could try at having a normal conversation .

@dullweapons asked: “I’m fine. This just happens sometimes. It’s normal for me.” he says covered in blood & wounds hurt / comfort : starters

Ray was….a force to be reckoned with. A force that she still did not comprehend, and there was no point in attempting to lie and state otherwise. Despite her years of experience with Ray, he remained as much an anomaly as the day they’d first met.

Which was why it shouldn’t have been surprising to find the captain in this state — covered in the sticky crimson liquid (some of it had already begun to dry and crust) and wounds that would have had the average soldier unconscious. She couldn’t tell if the majority of the blood he was covered in was his own or that of some enemy — though if she had to guess, she would assume it was the latter.

Farore above, it looked like he’d lain down and rolled in the scarlet goop.

“Ray—“

Despite her concern, the name came out in a hiss through gritted teeth as the princess pressed the tips of her fingers to her forehead, eyes shut as she briefly kneaded at her temples. She stood like this for no more than a handful of breaths before cerulean gaze was taking him in once more, attempting to better assess any damage he’d accumulated.

Like had a tendency to recognize like.

There was an... air about those who had existed far beyond the understand of mortal kin. Those who had seen the sun rise and fall on more lives than they could count. Those who had bore witness to the first pillars of civilization being raised, only to later watch those very same ones topple.

Not to mention the strange feeling that tugged at him, one that was almost as if they had met before.

Link was almost positive that couldn't be the truth. He felt he would have remembered anyone who made such an imposing figure (though, he noted, the man was only just barely taller than himself). It was that small flicker of uncertainty that had him peering at the other man curiously.

It wasn't quite enough to have him approach the strange, though.

He had been through countless versions of Hyrule and her Castle Town. Link had found himself growing fond of this one and had been glad when this Princess and her Knight had been able to banish the twilight from the lands. It was in the bustling market that he had spotted the stranger - and it was only after Link felt felt that their gaze had met did he move to slink away, heading out the south gate to the open field behind it.

      "" . . . have you grown bigger since last i saw you , or am i already at an age where i grow smaller ? ""

« That makes two of us. » Link had never been a particularly deep sleeper, even before the nightmares had set in - it was safer to sleep lightly while traveling, with the monsters and stals that roamed Hyrule at night. The only time Link got any true rest was in the villages, at the stables, in the calm, coolness of the shrines, places where it was safe to let his guard down.

Except that even villages and stables weren't always safe.

With a blood moon imminent - Link could feel it, with gloom in his body growing restless - he couldn't risk innocent people coming across him when the gloom overwhelmed him and the darkest part of himself came through. He needed to get to a shrine, where the effects of the blood moon were minimized by the sheer force of light within the shrine.

The problem was that tracking down a shrine was easier said than done and Link could not argue the exhaustion that was beginning to drag him down. Ray's suggestion for camp was met with a silent nod.