#sapientiiae

" Hm? "

Nabooru wrenched her gaze from the uninspiring portion of stone wall her gold eyes rested on. She blinked slowly, her mind slow to process Zelda's words and only proving her right. She cleared her throat and straightened her spine.

He had known it was risky trying to sneak into the castle grounds. The young sheikah wasn't even sure if there would be anything for him to find there. It was the castle, the home of the royal family, but only idiots would have anything of actual valuable out where it could be easily nabbed. But--

But he was desperate. And hungry. Even if he couldn't find something that he could use for monetary value, maybe he would find food.

And he had been in the act of trying to pilfer as much as possible from the kitchen, stuffing rolls down the front of his shirt and in his mouth as quickly as possible. The voice had him suddenly freezing in place, ice-water filling his veins, and he turned slowly to see a

A... girl.

He knew her, even if they had never actually met before.

Out of all of them that he had met before, she was simultaneously the most alike and dissimilar to her. Physically they were, at best, sisters with differing fathers, or perhaps cousins. The Queen seemed taller, leaner, her eyes narrow and distrustful. He had seen hair colors ranging from platinum to strawberry blond, but never before a deep brunette.

It suited her. It suited this world, dark and covered with a brooding shadow of tragedies that had been, and tragedies that were to come.

Personality, behaviorally... maybe it was just the fact that they both were raised to be able to juggle the decisions of war. They both knew how to bear a blade and did not hesitate to use it to protect themselves and to protect others. They were fiery, fierce, and had burned out any parts of them that they felt were too soft and weak to be of any use.

He couldn't say he was glad to see that, but mourning for the Queen's loss of innocence wouldn't exactly bring it back.

Link - a Link far older than the one the Queen knew, though physically he looked still in his late twenties - was watching her atop his spot on the parapets that lined the castle walls. He wouldn't be hard to spot, though he wasn't sure if he would still be there by the time she made it up to where he was rather lazily resting against the edge of the wall.

A Queen. That was new. Another difference between her and the prior Zeldas that came before. Always a princess... eventually a Queen, but only through marriage. Never on their own merit.

Not her, though.

@sapientiiae continued from [ x ]

The way she relaxed in his arms as he pulled her close was a delight he could never fully put to words, his heart racing just as hers did though he couldn't feel that hammering beat within her chest. Eyes darted to the mirror before them as his lips trailed up her neck, watching her expressions with a growing hunger, finding himself enjoying the way her face changed with every touch. The questioning tone of his name wasn't an impediment, continuing on with his exploration, until that noise slipped from her, full of want and longing. That brought him to pause, ever so slightly, meeting her gaze in the mirror.

He wasn't entirely surprised to see the desire in her eyes after that wonderful sound slipped from her lips, his cheeks reddening to match hers as the implications of it all suddenly hit him like a runaway Chocobo. Of course his actions would have provoked such a response, he didn't need to physically do so in order to in order to guess as much! For a brief moment, they stood in silence, looking to one another in their reflection as she remained within his arms. There was no call for him to stop, no attempt to slip from his grasp and put space between them. The look she gave was practically an invitation to continue, such hunger in her eyes he hadn't seen before.

So Clive doubled down.

That momentary pause was ended as he pressed his lips against her ear again, kissing the lobe just above where his teeth had gently scored the sensitive flesh. His gaze was locked with hers as he did this, drinking in every little reaction he was going to draw from her. She had shown him that she was sensitive here, and he was going to play on that for a bit, working his lips slowly to the very tip of her ear with soft kisses and gentle nibbles.

The entire time, his arms were squeezing her back against him, holding her firmly so she could melt against him as much as she desired. Clive could easily hold her up should her legs turn to water completely, and in fact, he almost wanted such. He found himself craving that sound she had made, wanting to hear it again, and again. Perhaps he was focusing too much on her ear, but frankly he had no mind to do anything else. That warning call she had given with the utterance of his name was long forgotten, and he practically was daring her to give in to whatever her mind desired now that he was fogging it with his touch.

What character do you ship my character with (I think)

Gee Meg I never would have guessed---

The reports had come in quickly. After all, dragons were a rare sight in Hyrule, and the last dragon that had decided to make its nest atop Death Mountain nearly spelt the end of the Gorons. It was decided quickly that a hunting party be made and a bounty be placed on the creature's head.

Dion's presence was noticeably absent from the meeting, but it was well known that Dion was one of Princess Zelda's personal knights and he may have been on a personal duty.

And he had been, until taking a chest full of malice that kept him from returning back to human form. In a last ditch effort to save himself from the infected creature that had injured him he took to the skies and fled, looking for a hiding place just outside the lost woods where he believed the magic would at least deter outsiders from finding him.

Some Final Fantasy meme

My wants probably do not align with the wider audience they're hoping to appeal to.

I want a return of some of the more classic level up things, with learning new abilities baked into actual character progression. I also want a return to characters having set roles. Like... you have your healer. Your fighter. Your thief. It's cool and all that 'everyone can do everything' that FFX, XII, and XIII offered, and you really didn't... have... any roles in XV? And XVI is just. Clive.

And actual parties.