#hyruin

knelt upon the sandy stone, sooga's head hung low. his subservience came above all else, his sense of duty extinguishing any kind of pride. to his subordinates, he was indomitable, a leader in the absence of their master. to kohga, he was whatever tool she saw fit. today, he was her master of spies, a prying eye into the gaping maw of the castle and its cruel occupants.

"reports have come saying that there will be a knights' tourney to celebrate the king's birthday within the next few weeks."

hyrule loved its festivals. sooga could not remember a single day in which he had not heard of some festival being planned--the 100 year festival for the minish, the new year festivals, dozens upon dozens of tournaments celebrating soldiers becoming proper knights. this was simply one more in a calendar of thousands--but perhaps, that could be leveraged.

"he will be front and center during the celebration," he continued quietly, his deep, throaty voice monotone in spite of the treachery he was to utter. "the soldiers will be preoccupied with a parade for him. it is, perhaps, the most vulnerable he will be this year."

❛ i know it has. ❜ twenty-nine years, to be exact ; she could not have lost track if she’d tried. her grief had faded as time went by, but riju could still feel it in the back of her throat, now making itself known with every breath she drew. 

could she have recognized kohga if she hadn’t heard the sound of her voice? the mask of the yiga clan let nothing show, not even a hint of the face underneath. that red sigil would tell her nothing. she would not know if age had changed kohga the same way it had her, carving delicate lines into the corners of her eyes or streaking her hair through with its first hints of silver. 

but she has seen me. not only just now, as they faced each other, but undoubtedly well before this too, despite the best efforts of both the knights of hyrule and gerudo town’s militia to keep her and her minions away from honest citizens. the yigas had eyes and ears everywhere⎯the latest link of this chain of events only proved their point further.

she rested her hand on the hilt of her scimitar, well-aware of the weight of multiple stares at the back of her head. if she’d ever needed the reminder that this was no heartfelt reunion... ❛ i’ve come for my daughter, as you asked. now give her back. ❜

tonight, though, he had gone on the hunt, and this she knew better than anyone else. to lead him into the undergrowth, to soften his steps into silence and point him to their prey was a familiar routine, one that required very little talking to boot. once they’d returned to his makeshift camp, she’d stuck around for lack of better things to do, methodically skinning the rabbits they’d caught while he started a fire. she didn’t expect him to be the first to speak, nor for his inquiry to cut straight to the point⎯but then again, it was one of his more commendable traits.

━━ ⟢ ❛ you could choose the quiet life, & you do not. you choose this. ❜  ( becoming elizabeth, accepting. ) * @hyruin

she set aside her bloody knife, wiping it clean on a patch of moss. ❛ are you asking why i haven’t demanded galahad let me go ? frankly, i’m not sure she can, and who knows what would happen if she did. ❜ 

mun(day) questions / @hyruin

what is your favourite canon muse?

i um. i can't choose. i can't choose sdlfkjf there are definitely some i would reach for first to answer this question over others, but i have? so many favourites?? i'm going to discount tp zelda because i've talked about her enough, i feel :'D

it wasn’t as though the constructs had never seen the outside of their scaffolding before. like countless others, riju had watched religiously as the pilots performed their drills, getting used to their robots’ bulk and command. before today, though, they’d never been sent out to fight, or to show off the true extent of their abilities. even if their targets were only a handful of monster camps, quickly dispatched, any excuse was good enough for the people of hyrule to throw a party. the divine beasts worked and their princess was mighty⎯when the prophesied hero joined their ranks, which would happen any day now, they would be ready to face the calamity.

━━ ⟢ ❛ i don’t believe i outrank anyone, really. ❜  (  becoming elizabeth, accepting.  )  * @hyruin

riju paused, her fiddling with calix’s ruffled tie temporarily forgotten, a coral-shaped pin still held between her teeth. she tugged it out, stuck ig into the hem of her sleeve for safekeeping, and stared at her friend in genuine bewilderment. ❛ does it matter ? cal, you’re a champion ! ❜ she’d known it before, of course, but knowing was different from seeing vah ruta move with him. when he’d emerged from the cockpit, beaming, she’d thought she had never seen him so happy. 

he ought to have been focusing his efforts on the high table’s conversations, to get some idea of who the kingdom’s major players were and figure out the dynamics that linked them together, as chade had taught him. that would have made for some interesting information to convey to his mother, an additional asset for the coming negotiations. instead, all he could think about was how much of a fool he’d made of himself. the princess of hyrule had been right there, and he’d failed to recognize her. worse, he’d addressed her with a frightening lack of ceremony, and let cat climb all over her without a second thought. merciful eda, he was lucky she hadn’t told anyone of his blunder, or he might have considered leaving the country altogether.

whatever little time he hadn’t wasted mulling over his stumble, he’d devoted to sneaking glances at her from across the table. next to her father she looked awfully small, not only in stature but in presence. where king edric was something of a windbag, monopolizing his side of the table’s discussions, princess zelda seemed content to stare down at the contents of her plate, occasionally picking at it, and let the flow of the conversation take her where it would. he didn’t know whether he ought to be thankful she showed no intention of bringing up the circumstances of their first meeting, or concerned for her taciturn silence, so unlike the girl he’d met in the garden.

all things considered, he did not expect her to catch up to him as guests filed out of the dining room, and even less so to hear her speak. 

 ━━ ⟢ ❛ forgive me. i must have made a rather poor impression. ❜ ( gradalis, accepting. ) * @hyruin

━━ ⟢ ❛ galahad, i need you at my side as you were once, my friend, to give me courage. ❜  (  excalibur, accepting.  )  *  @hyruin

she tore her gaze from the abyss at the sound of link’s voice. in the growing darkness, she may have been unable to make out his features at all, if not for the gentle glow of her skin. it broke her heart to witness the look on his face : not frightened, as any other would have been, but set with grim determination, a soldier marching on to his inevitable duty.

such is the fate of the hero of hyrule. but, galahad thought as she reached for him, he did not have to bear this burden alone. ❛ you have all the courage one could ever wish for, and more. ❜ at his back, the master sword shone faintly, casting its own blue light and keeping the darkness at bay as it had, seven years ago, when link breached the walls of hyrule castle. she had not known him then - or at least, they had never truly spoken - but she had known the shape of his hand on the sword’s hilt, and the brave, unfailing heart that had driven him onward.

sundial / accepting / @hyruin ( Sonia )

the past always has its hands around your neck, doesn't it?

     There are things he doesn't know how to tell her. Beginnings he gets lost in, endings he can't find the words to tie up. Fragments of himself he doesn't know how to release from where he's clutched them, even as their edges cut into shaking palms and draw blood from tautened fingers.

     There are things, he's rediscovering, he doesn't seem to need to tell her.

     At this hour, the setting sun casts a beautiful afterglow. It limns her every contour in strokes of radiant gold. This is something new they've been doing — just the two of them: sharing spaces, savouring quiets, spinning stories with worn threads — but her eye for all that goes unsaid is not a novel development.

     "In a way," he says. Softly, as she had — which is certainly softer than he might have with anyone else, in any place and time else. Rauru does not have the luxury nor right to speak so lightly of these memories, monumental in their devastation, yet in the wake of those gentle tones...he does not feel so ashamed for indulging.

     Their voices are followed by the thin tremolos of songbirds in a dusk chorus. The fireflies will be emerging soon. They ought to be making their way back inside, but as he turns his gaze further down from her own, landing on a hand mere inches away from his, a want gently blossoms within the hollows of his heart.