#lu marin

Link’s bird-shaped soulmark appeared at the top of his left arm when he was four. The day should have been a celebration.

Most people’s soulmarks were grey before they found their soulmate. They darkened the closer you were to them. People who had found their soulmates were marked in ink-black. Sometimes Link would see them in town — matching roses on wrists above intertwined hands, the lizard peeking out from behind the innkeepers ear a copy of the one covering her husband’s knuckles.

Not everyone pursued their soulmate, though. Uncle had been ecstatic for his soulmate, Ayrin, when she married her childhood best friend when Link had been five. It was, admittedly, a rather boring wedding to Link (he hadn’t known either of the brides), but it was nice seeing Uncle so happy for his friend.

Link’s own soulmark was blinding white. It matched the icy snow that covered the ground during the long, cold winters and stood in stark contrast to his skin in the summer when he got tanned from helping Uncle with the orchard.

Uncle tried to tell him that his soulmark just meant he was destined to travel, but Link worried. How was he supposed to find someone who could live anywhere in the world but Hyrule?

---

When the Triforce sent Link to Holodrum, he was suddenly filled with hope. Finally, he was far enough from where he’d grown up in central Hyrule that he should see some darkening in his mark that he could follow. He glanced constantly at his arm as he travelled with Din, as he visited Subrosia, as he moved on to Labrynna to save Nayru. His hope dwindled as his soulmark stayed the same pale shade it had been his whole life.

When he got home to Hyrule, two more quests completed, he was filled with determination. There were only two more countries that bordered Hyrule.

He packed his bags and visited Calatia, but the mark stayed the same. He moved on.

One country to go, now. Surely — surely — his soulmate must be in Hytopia.

---

Link booked a ship along the North Sea back to Hyrule, a fourth quest under his belt. He’d given up. Either his soulmate lived in a country that didn’t border Hyrule — and Link would have no hope finding them if that were true; he’d already travelled far more than most people did in their entire life — or his soulmate was dead — his soulmark wasn’t the usual shade for a dead soulmate, but he’d only ever seen soulmarks for people who’d met their soulmate before they’d died. He wasn’t sure which outcome was worse, if it was better for there to be no chance of him finding them or just so small of a chance that it was functionally the same.

At least if they were dead, they wouldn’t be feeling the same about him. He hoped they weren’t looking (lie, deep inside he still begged to be found).

The ship was fine, sort of fun even. The captain was an older man who reminded him of Uncle. He claimed his true love was the sea, and even showed off his soulmark — three wavy lines. Link noticed that the edges of the mark were lighter than the middle — the sign of someone whose soulmate had died. He didn’t ask.

The rest of the crew were also more than happy to take Link under their wings and show him the ropes, both metaphorically and literally. Within a few days, he was clambering about the rigging with the best of them.

And then the storm hit.

The captain tried to keep Link inside and out of the rain, but it quickly became obvious that they needed his help. He scampered his way up to the crow’s nest to switch out with the lookout (his favourite job to do), who’d already been up there for 6 hours before the storm started and whose voice was starting to go out. Link shielded his eyes as best he could and started to call out to the captain.

---

The thing about lightning is that it likes to take the easiest path to the ground, and air is one of the hardest things for it to move through. Therefore, it likes to strike whatever is closest, which is almost always also whatever is tallest.

Link, standing at the top of a very tall mast in the middle of an open ocean, made a very good target.

It burned. Bright, hot, fiery pain filled him. The whole world was lit up white-gold. His chest stuttered. He couldn’t breathe.

He was gone before he hit the water.

---

Koholint was a strange place. Link loved it.

Somehow, they didn’t have soulmarks and soulmates. They hadn’t even heard of them. Link hadn’t known that was possible. The fact that his soulmark was so pale wasn’t weird to them; at least, not any weirder than him having one at all.

Importantly, Koholint also had Marin, which was the best part of the island. If Link could have picked his soulmate, she was who he’d have picked. Considering he’d given up on ever finding his soulmate, he basically could.

Link pulled his sleeve over his soulmark and decided to ignore it. Fated soulmate or not, he’d already found someone to spend his life with.

---

When Link got home, he spent a while crying and even longer just drifting uselessly in his own head. It took him a week to pull himself out of bed.

He finally worked up the energy to go shopping in the village — he couldn’t keep relying on gifts of pre-cooked meals from his neighbors. He was getting changed when he saw it.

His soulmark, still painfully pale against his skin.

He hated it.

He couldn’t have the person he was fated to love. He couldn’t have the person he’d chosen to love. Was he just destined to be alone for the rest of his life?

In a fit of anger, he covered the soulmark and promised himself to never look at it again. It had only ever brought him heartache.

---

When the strange purple man asked to move in, Link honestly couldn’t care less. He could already tell that this was shaping up to be yet another quest. The bracelet was, admittedly a bit weird, but, well, a gift was a gift, and Link could sense the magic sitting dormant inside of it even if he couldn’t tell what it did just yet.

He was off to save the kingdom. Again. And the princess. Again. The machinations of odd people in bunny costumes weren’t of great importance right now.

---

On second thought, Link took it back. He hated Ravio.

The stupid merchant’s stupid bird stole his items every time he passed out, and they were so expensive. He had to re-rent them often enough that it was hard to save up to buy them.

Link was seriously thinking of kicking him out of his house if he didn’t start paying rent soon.

He ignored how nice it was having someone to come home to, and the fact that Sheerow always made sure that he was somewhere safe before stealing his stuff. He didn’t appreciate either of those things. Not at all.

---

Link awoke to a burning pain in his left shoulder. Someone, or perhaps multiple someones, were talking above him, he wasn’t sure.

The glass rim of a bottle was pressed against his lips. He tried to squirm away, but his limbs didn’t seem to be working. He was forced to drink. The liquid in the bottle tasted like a health potion. The pain died down a bit, and sound cleared slightly.

Ravio was the one speaking, words going even faster than his usual frantic chatter. His accent was thicker than usual, too, adding a rolling lilt to his words, which were interspersed with Sheerow's answering worried tweets. Since when could he understand Sheerow’s tone?

Also, more importantly, how had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was going through a dungeon, getting stabbed through the shoulder, and then nothing. How had he ended up at his own house?

“Wha’ ‘appen?” Link slurred.

Sheerow chirped like she’d been startled. Ravio made a similar high-pitched noise. “Oh, don’t talk just yet, Mr. Hero. You’re very injured. Yes, yes. Very injured. There’s way too much blood. You’re safe, by the way. Safe at home. But very injured. Don’t move.”

Ravio was rambling. Link had noticed that he did that when he got nervous or scared. He must have been either very nervous or very scared to ramble this much, though. That matched how much his body was shaking against Link’s side.

Despite his fearful shivers, Ravio’s final words were followed with him beginning to stitch up the hole in Link’s shoulder with surprisingly-steady hands. Link did his best to listen and not flinch.

He distracted himself by slurring out more questions. “How?”

“You appear to have been stabbed, Mr. Hero. Very badly, too.”

Link grunted to interrupt him. “How here?”

Ravio went quiet for a minute, though his hands continued his work. When he finally did speak, it was quiet. “Sheerow brought you here. You were… It was bad, Mr. Hero. I was worried you wouldn’t make it.”

Ice trickled down Link’s spine. Sure, he faced danger regularly, and lethal situations were par for the course of being a hero, but it was still scary to think that he might’ve died if it weren’t for Ravio and his stupid bird. It wasn’t the first time he’d gotten close — he was pretty sure that, if it weren’t for the Wind Fish’s involvement, he would’ve died during his return to Hyrule — but he usually had some sort of back-up, some potions or fairies or something.

This time, he’d had nothing. He’d promised himself to stock back up on fairies after that dungeon. He’d used his last two health potions earlier in the dungeon. He’d been surrounded by blood-thirsty monsters, with no way out but a tiny little bird.

Link was quiet as Ravio finished stitching his shoulder and bandaged it up. Ravio was also quiet, which was even worse than his usual annoying — comforting — rambling chatter. When Ravio was done, he helped Link sit up. Sheerow landed on top of his head and started preening his hair. Normally he’d be inclined to bat her off, but, considering he’d just had his life saved by the tiny bird, he let her stay for now.

Ravio studied Link. Link ignored him and studied his shoulder. The stitched were hidden under clean white bandages, but the bandages were tied competently and Link was pretty sure that Ravio knew what he was doing, for some reason.

Then Link noticed something. His left shoulder had been injured — the same one that his soulmark was on. Ravio had removed the covering he’d placed over it at some point before stitching him up. Link quickly looked away, dread filling him. The bandages wouldn’t cover the soulmark, and he didn’t want to see its icy-white reminder that he’d never be loved.

As he looked away, though, his eyes caught on something. No, it couldn’t be. Surely not, right? Slowly, hesitantly, he looked back at his arm.

The bird that had decorated his upper arm his whole life was pitch black.

Link stared at it in shock. He’d given up hope of it ever darkening even a smidge, of it ever becoming even a light grey, and here it was, dark as could be.

He quickly ran over a list of every new person in his life that could be his soulmate. There were a good few, as was common when he started a new quest. Still, the most important new person in his life was…

…Was Ravio. Ravio, who he’d started to suspect, based on his accent matching the locals, might be from Lorule.

Ravio being in a whole different dimension would definitely explain why his soulmark had registered him as being so far away.

Link’s head snapped up to stare at Ravio. Ravio squeaked. Sheerow, dislodged by Link’s quick movement, glid from Link’s head to Ravio’s hands, and he pulled her into his chest. Link blinked at the sight of the bird.

He looked back at his soulmark.

He looked back at Sheerow.

Had he had Ravio’s stupid bird plastered on his arm his whole life?!

He had, hadn’t he!

He couldn’t believe it.