#rusl

“Tell me… do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls?”

My piece for neardawn zine! So happy to contribute something for my favorite Zelda game ^ ^

Leftover sales are available now !

so excited to finally be able to share my resistance illustration for @neardawnzine!! 🐺

Explanation post

A stupid idea I had

Transcript

NOW THEY CAN FISH TOGETHER

It was a dull morning, with rain more so on the horizon than the sun itself, and Rusl wanted nothing more than to stay in bed. But they had to get back to Ordon, and the weather would slow them down even more; he wanted to get to the village before they closed the gates at dusk.

Sighing, Rusl rolled over to face the other bed, catching sight of Link, who was still fast asleep. He hesitated in waking the boy, enjoying just watching him rest.

It still troubled him that Link hadn't slept in a bed in Castle Town during his entire journey. Rusl couldn't fathom why. Did the boy not have enough rupees? Had he been dissuaded from staying at Telma's? Rusl knew that some members of the resistance had been... less than welcoming to Link initially, unsure of his motivations and purpose in questioning them. Had that contributed? They'd all opened up to him once they'd realized he was Rusl's boy and trustworthy.

He didn't know, but he really wanted to find out.

Yawning, Rusl stretched as he rose, and he gently sat on Link's bed, moving the boy's shoulder side to side to wake him. Link scrunched his face, burying it into his pillow, before making a tired, quiet sound. The teenager was used to waking early, doing ranch work, but it seemed he was reluctant to rise this morning.

"Link," Rusl prompted. "We need to go, son."

He heard his boy sigh, and Rusl wished nothing more than to let him sleep in, but they simply couldn't. Link blinked his eyes open and sat up, groggily rubbing at his face. The pair washed up and were ready to go in no time, equipped with some breakfast from Telma before heading out.

Rusl noticed the alley Link had tried to head for last night, and he finally had to ask, "Link, why didn't you stay at an inn while you were in Castle Town?"

"Overpriced," Link answered dully, munching on bread. "Got kicked out from Telma's too, but that was in wolf form."

Rusl stared at him. "You tried entering in wolf form?"

"Midna was dying," Link argued a little defensively before sighing. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Rusl replied easily. He recalled Link's stories about his adventure, and while he hadn't gone into every detail, Rusl did remember the part where his companion had been injured. He couldn't imagine how terrified Link must have been, especially since he was stuck back in wolf form again.

Poor boy. Rusl's heart ached for him. He was grateful Link didn't have to hide that anymore, even though the manner in which he found out was not ideal in the slightest.

"But the rest of the time it was because it was expensive," Rusl continued, raising an eyebrow. "Surely you had enough money."

"Wanted to use it for better stuff," Link yawned. "Like bombs."

Rusl sighed heavily.

"Besides, the street puppies were cute," Link giggled. "And we could play. When the sun started to rise I'd turn back to a Hylian and throw a bone around with the little guy."

There was the reason. Link wanted to play with puppies.