#swamp link

He turned around, and saw two unfortunately familiar faces, recognizing the two Zora about his age following him. Link immediately made a break for it, but another Zora popped up from the water nearby, cutting off his escape. The three easily cornered him against a tree, and Link felt dread curl in his stomach as he looked up at them.

Great. Just what he needed.

“Had a nice day out in the swamp, Squishy? I’m surprised a swamp cat didn’t eat you,” the darkest green of the three sneered, a rude Zora named Ponds. “With no scales they wouldn’t have a problem tearing you up.”

“What do you want, Ponds?” Link said with a glare.

He shrugged, and crossed his arms. “I’m not allowed to ask about your day? I’m just curious, Squishy. Were you at crazy Viyne’s again? Did he tell you any good stories? Maybe the one about how Hylians are worth less than mosquitoes.”

The other two chuckled, and Link frowned.

“That’s not true, Viyne doesn’t tell stories like that,” Link defended, and Ponds snorted.

“Don’t tell me you forgot the one with the war? You probably like that one, since you’re a dirty Hylian,” he sneered. “I know I always have tons of fun hearin’ about your horrible family. Right guys?”

Ponds’ cronies immediately agreed, laughing and jeering, and Link pursed his lips.

“Go ‘way, Ponds,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Why? ‘fraid to talk about it?” Ponds jeered. “Softie Link, no-scales Link.”

He gave Link a harsh shove, one so abrupt that Link was thrown to the ground. The three of them laughed, and Link felt his face warm.

“That’s all you’ll ever be, soft and stupid,” Ponds jeered, his friends nodding. “Like all Hylians. I’m surprised the Chief even lets you stay here— if he were smart, he’d use you for alligalfos bait.”

“He would not! And I’m not stupid,” Link said as his face grew hot. “And other Hylians aren’t either!”

Ponds abruptly kicked out at Link, his foot catching him in the ribs. While Link was distracted by the pain, he then lifted him up and shoved him back against the tree, Link grunting as he hit it.

“Yes they are,” Ponds smirked at Link. “And you’re stupidest of them all.”

“Leave me alone, Ponds!” Link demanded, trying to wriggle free from his grip. Ponds held him tight though, claws pressing uncomfortably on his shoulders, and Link swung his legs at him.

He managed to land a kick to his chin, and Ponds’ head jerked back, then his expression turned angry.

“Oh you’re going to pay for that, you little worm!”

Ponds let go of Link with one hand, but before Link could be happy about it or try to run, Ponds’ lackeys grabbed his shoulders. Ponds’ one hand was still pressed against Link’s chest, and he scraped the skin as he tightened his grip.

Link growled in frustration, kicking furiously to get free, and then Ponds wound back and his cheek exploded with pain.

Stars shot across his vision, and the next thing Link knew, Ponds had dropped him, shaking out his fist.

“You’re not one of us, and you’ll never be one of us. And don’t you forget it,” he snapped as he gave Link one last sharp parting kick, then stalked away.

His friends both gave Link one kick each in addition, then skittered away behind their leader like they was afraid they might be seen. Which was stupid, since nobody was around. At least not any big Zora.

Ponds and his friends never bothered Link if there was an adult around to see what they were doing. Or one that didn’t dislike him, anyway. A couple of the adults were almost as rude as Ponds was.

But at least they don’t hit me.

Link just laid on the ground a moment, pain throbbing all over him while Ponds’ words roared in his head. He eventually managed to sit up, though he had to go slowly, and he wobbled as he braced himself against the tree. His face hurt, and he wrapped an arm around his middle while the other one lightly touched his cheek.

The pain hit him harder, and he winced, eyes stinging. What was Ponds’ problem? Just because Link wasn’t a Zora didn’t mean he had to push him around!

Feeling gingerly at his side where he’d been kicked, Link froze, then touched the pouch on his belt. He dipped his hand inside with a sinking feeling, and fished out the broken pieces of his shells, cracked into useless shards.

One of the kicks must have hit his pouch.

Link’s lip wobbled, but he stubbornly blinked away his tears. He could find more shells. It wasn’t the end of the world.

Even if his face and chest hurt really badly, and his treasure was broken, and Ponds had never hit him so hard.

“Link?”

Link stiffened, then drooped as two different Zora hurried up the path, one dark with pale speckles, the other a similar color, but with bright orange fins. They ran over to him when they saw him sitting on the ground, and the darker one with the speckles, Amphi, gave him an anxious look.

“Oh no, Link are you okay?” she asked, and Link nodded, biting his lip to keep away the sting in his eyes that had come back. “We heard you yell, it was Ponds again, wasn’t it?”

Link nodded again, looking at his lap, and the other Zora, Kattail, glared out at the swamp.

“Ponds is such a jerk,” she huffed, then held out a webbed hand to help Link up. “I would’ve beaten him up if I’d been here. I should tell my pa he keeps bugging you, then he’d—”

“No, s’okay,” Link said quietly, then scrounged up a weak grin. “Ponds is just mad I’m better at running than him.”

“Doesn’t look like running worked this time,” Kattail snorted, but didn’t argue the point, which Link was glad about. The last thing he needed was Kattail’s dad getting mixed up in his problems. Chief Baiyu already didn’t like him much, he didn’t need to add fuel to that fire.

“I’m surprised the Chief even lets you stay here.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Amphi asked again. “Your cheek is getting all puffy.”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Link reassured, despite the aching throb still running through his face, and the bit of blood he could taste. “He just... cornered me.”

“We’d better get you home,” Amphi said worriedly, and nudged Link in the direction of his house. “Your ma—”

“My mama doesn’t need to know,” Link quickly interrupted. “She’ll just make a big fuss, and it won’t fix anything.”

“How do you know it won’t?” Kattail asked with a flat look. “Have you ever even told her about Ponds?”

Link hesitated, and that was all the answer Kattail needed.

“Ugh. Well then I’ll tell her,” she said in a determined way, and Amphi grabbed her arm.

“Wait, we shouldn’t if Link doesn’t want us to,” she said worriedly.

“But he keeps getting hurt! This was the worst yet, what about next time?” Kattail snapped back.

“Well, okay, but he’s right about his ma. What if she does something your pa doesn’t like?”

“I don’t care, my pa could take more of us doing stuff he doesn’t like!”

“Um,” Link interrupted in a small voice. They both paused and looked at him. “You guys can keep fighting if you really wanna, but I... I wanna go home. So I think I’m gonna go.”

Both girls stopped, and Amphi nodded, Kattail sighing.

“We’ll come with. But we will talk about it,” she said with a huff, and they got going.

Normally the three of them would have swum most of the way, but Link’s chest hurt enough that he didn’t think he could hold his breath very well. So they mostly walked through the swamp in silence, birds chirping, frogs and bugs adding a quiet drone to their walk.

Link tried not to think about the pain in his cheek or Ponds’ words, but he couldn’t help but be reminded of them every time his face throbbed. Ponds had never been nice to Link, but lately it seemed like he was twice as bad, Ponds trying to corner him almost daily. Link just didn’t know what to do.

He really didn’t want to worry his mama about it. She always got so worked up when people bothered Link, and she especially didn’t need extra stress right now. And while Link liked Gillian and all, his mama’s mate always had just a little awkwardness around him when it came to Link. So no, he couldn’t tell his parents.

Even if his chest and face really hurt. And one of his teeth felt loose now. And as much as he hated to admit it... Ponds’ words hurt almost as much as his fists had.

“You’ll never be one of us!”

“What are you thinking about, Link?” Amphi asked, pulling him from his thoughts. Link looked at the water they were walking beside, and took a moment to answer.

“What if... what if Ponds is right?” he began softly. “What if Hylians are gross and stupid, and I just don’t know because I’ve never met another one?”

“He said that?” Kattail said with a scrunched face.

“Well they’re not,” Amphi said immediately, crossing her arms. “I know it.”

“How?”

“Because you’re not,” she smiled. “You’ve always been nice, Link. And Viyne’s met Hylians, and he never says they’re stupid or stinky or anything.”

Link stayed quiet, and Kattail rolled her eyes beside them.

“Look Link, forget Ponds,” she said. “He’s just jealous of you. He won’t admit it, but he totally is.”

“Jealous of what, exactly? Of how I don’t have gills? Or scales? Or anything useful?” Link said dully, and Kattail snorted.

“No, stu— Link. He’s jealous you actually have friends and not lackeys. Also of your hair,” she smirked with a flick of her fins, and Link smiled. His cheek throbbed and he had to drop it, but Kattail had seen.

“You’re not dirty or stupid, Link. Ponds is just wrong,” Amphi reassured as they finally neared his house, and Link sighed.

“Thanks.”

He wasn’t totally sure he believed it, but at least Kattail and Amphi thought so.

Link’s mother was still fixing dinner when the three of them walked in, and she turned around with a smile. Link hovered in the back as she said hello, relieved for once that he was shorter then his peers and his mother couldn’t really see him.

“Oh Amphi and Kattail, nice to see you two! I caught a big catfish earlier, do you want to stay for dinner and help us eat it?” Rina asked.

“We’d love to, but we gotta get going,” Kattail answered despite how Amphi perked up, then casually pushed Link forward into his mother’s line of sight.

Rina’s eyes immediately locked onto his face, and Link braced himself.

“Link! What happened?” Rina asked with an alarmed trill, dropping what she was doing and hurrying over to him. She ran a cool hand over his cheek, and made another worried noise. “Goodness you look like you were stung by a swarm of bees!”

“No, I, um...” Link floundered, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to tell the truth either.

“He fell out of a tree!” Amphi supplied hurriedly. “He— he hit his face, on a branch. And a log. On the ground. And bit some branches. And stuff. He’s lucky he didn’t break anything.”

Kattail opened her mouth, but Amphi quickly put her hand over it. Rina didn’t notice, studying Link’s face intently as she brushed some of his hair back, her expression unreadable, and Link began to sweat.

But then she gently kissed the top of his head with a sigh. “Treasure, you’ve gotta be more careful.”

“I was being careful, I just... wasn’t careful enough I guess,” Link mumbled, and his mother made another worried noise.

Kattail rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ve gotta go home. Thanks for the dinner offer Missus Rina, c’mon Amphi,” she said flatly, and Amphi opened her mouth to protest, before Kattail dragged her off.

Rina said goodbye as Link waved at them, and once they were gone, she looked back at him. Her face was still lined with worry, and Link swallowed.

“Link, you haven’t fallen out of a tree in a long time, is everything okay?” his mother asked.

Her voice was so worried Link almost admitted the problem right then and there, but the words just wouldn’t leave his throat, dying whenever he tried to voice them.

“I guess I’m just... tired,” he eventually said in a weak voice. It wasn’t a lie, he was pretty tired.

Rina looked him over one more time, then tugged him into her arms, giving him a squeeze. Link winced. At least he’d washed the bit of blood off his scratches.

“Okay. If you’re sure. Maybe you’d better get some rest before dinner, then. I’ll call you when it’s ready, okay?” she asked. Link nodded, letting himself enjoy being hugged for a few more moments, and then his mother let him go.

He scampered up to his room, the climb making his chest ache, and immediately plopped down into his bed, groaning as his face throbbed. Even though he technically hadn’t lied to his mother, the truth sat like a rock in his stomach, making him feel sick.

But what could he tell her? He didn’t want to give her more problems. She was going to lay eggs soon, and Link didn’t want to make her stressed during that. He’d just... figure it out.

Somehow.

Link mulled the whole thing over multiple times as he lay in bed, only sort of resting like his mother had told him. His face and chest hurt too much for that anyway, and he wished they had some coldweed to put on it. He was pretty sure they used the last of it up the other day when he’d banged his knee, though. So he just shifted uncomfortably for a while.

It didn’t feel like very long before Mama called up that dinner was ready, and Link made his way back down, wincing at his chest. His face had swollen more, making it difficult to see out of his one eye, and he shuffled quietly into the main room.

Gillian had come home from his guard shift, and he smiled at Link when he walked in, though his eyes immediately went wide as he saw his face.

“Leaping lizards Link, what’d you do, get in a fistfight?” Gillian asked in alarm, and Link gave him a noncommittal shrug.

“Apparently he fell out of a tree,” Rina said as she walked over, and made a sympathetic noise as he looked at Link again. “That’s swelling pretty bad, Link. We’d better go see Cypress for some coldweed after we eat.”

Link nodded, and stayed quiet as Gillian studied his swollen face.

“You really got this from a tree? Looks more like a punch to the face to me,” he hummed, and Link gulped. Would he directly ask about it?

“Ah, of course you’d know what a punch looks like,” his mama teased, and Gillian let out an offended trill.

“That was one time, you know I don’t like fighting with people.”

“You still walked away with quite a few missing scales and cuts, mister,” Rina pointed out.

“Says the Zora who’s pa had to bodily drag her from a fistfight once,” he said with a pointed look back, and Rina waved him off.

“I was defending my honor and you know it, Gill. Laike insulted my fins!”

“After you insulted her choice of clothing. And boyfriend.”

“Oh everybody knows she and Myre were a terrible match. I was doing her a favor.”

Link found himself smiling at the silly argument, but he hissed in pain as the motion hurt his face, raising a hand and gingerly feeling at it. Gillian looked at him, and he tilted his head with worry in his gaze.

“Link, is that really from you falling from a tree? Or maybe something a bit more embarrassing that happened to you today? These really don’t look like injuries from a tree,” he said.

“Maybe he insulted someone’s clothes and actually got punched,” Rina teased as she worked on the fish.

Link didn’t say anything, and there was an awkward pause as Rina and Gillian both waited, and then seemed to simultaneously realize something. They slowly looked over at him, and Link shriveled under their gazes.

“Link,” Rina began slowly, and Link bit his lip. “Did someone hit you?”

Link squirmed where he stood, and Gillian knelt beside him, silliness gone as he looked him in the eye. “Link? Please answer.”

“...Yes,” Link admitted softly.

Anger flashed in Rina’s eyes, and the rock in Link’s stomach did a flip.

“Who was it?” Gillian asked seriously, and Link looked down at his feet. “...Link, please.”

“I don’t want to make trouble,” he whispered, and his mother padded over and tugged him into a hug.

“Oh Link, you’re not trouble. We just need to know who hit you, this is serious,” she said worriedly as she cupped his chin. “You can barely see out of that eye, and I bet those bruises on your middle are from this too. Are the scratches from this as well? What happened?”

Link’s lip wobbled, and he tried to voice it, but the words all came out in a confusing jumble. “He... I mean... I got cornered, and my shells got broken, and I was trying to leave but he got my face when I wasn’t looking and they were laughing at Viyne and me and he said I’m—”

He hiccuped, and Rina scooped him into her arms, standing up.

“But who was it?” Gillian repeated, face grim, and Link squeezed his eyes shut. “Link, I know you don’t want to make trouble, but we need to fix this. Who hit you?”

“Was it an adult?” Rina asked sharply, and Link shook his head. “Who then?”

Link bit his lip.

“Link, please. You’re not in trouble, I promise,” Gillian said gently. “But we need to know who hurt you.”

“...Ponds,” Link finally admitted in a miserable whisper. “But please don’t tell him I told, he’ll just do it again and I—”

Rina suddenly handed Link over to Gillian, and he took him in surprise, both of them watching as Rina stormed over to the corner.

“Rina? Love, what are you doing?” Gillian asked, and she covered up what she’d been making for dinner.

“Going to tell Ponds’ mama just what he’s been up to,” she growled, and whirled around as she finished messing with the food. “You two should eat, I’m not going to be quick.”

“Rina, we don’t need another incident like the hair-pulling one, remember?” Gillian said, holding out a hand. “This can wait until tomorrow, it’ll be better for the eggs if you wait and eat.”

“It’ll be better for me if I give that little mudskipper what for!” Rina snapped, and Link shrank down in Gillian’s arms. This was exactly what he hadn’t wanted to happen. Oh sure, his mama would go talk with Ponds’ mama, and Ponds would be punished and Link would get a lame apology from him, but once things died down he would just turn around and bully Link even more.

And in the meantime, Mama would stress herself out and be upset and it wouldn’t be good for the eggs!

Link tried to curl up, but forgot about his bruises, and couldn’t help the soft noise of pain that escaped him. The noise caught both his parents’ attentions, and they stopped whatever it was they’d been arguing about to look at him.

The anger in his mother’s posture seemed to deflate out of her as she looked at him, and she stepped closer with a sad look.

“I’m sorry, Link, did I scare you?” she said softly, and he shook his head, not quite sure what to say. He was never scared of his mama, but sometimes her more fierce side did startle him a little.

He was more worried about everything else right now.

“Oh Link,” she sighed, and her and Gillian both sat down, nestling Link between them. His mama pecked his forehead, and Link leaned miserably against her. “We’re just worried about you, Treasure. You can’t keep getting hurt like this.”

“It doesn’t happen a lot,” Link whispered, and Gillian shook his head.

“The fact that it’s happening at all is bad, Link. You know you can tell us when this kind of thing happens, right?” he asked gently.

“I know,” Link replied. “But I’m... I was scared, I guess.”

“Why?”

Link paused and wrung his hands in quiet nerves. “...I don’t want Kattail’s dad to kick me out,” he admitted in a whisper.

Rina’s eyes widened. “Link, we’d never let the chief kick you out. And a problem like this wouldn’t be enough for him to kick anyone out, Zora or not. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“But Ponds said...”

“Ponds doesn’t know anything,” Gillian said firmly. “Whatever he told you is wrong. This is your home, Link. And we’re your family. You’re not getting kicked out.”

Link’s eyes watered again for some reason, and Gillian gave him a squeeze as he leaned on his shoulder, sniffling.

Rina looked at Gillian, meeting his eyes for a moment, then down at Link with a sigh. “Don’t worry, Treasure. Nothin’s gonna happen to you. And you’re right, Gillian. Let’s eat, and then we can take Link to Cypress’s so he can get him fixed up. Then we can figure out Ponds.”

“Does that sound like a good plan, Link?” Gillian asked, and Link slowly nodded. That sounded fine.

“Thanks Papa,” he whispered, and Gillian froze, then smiled at him as he held him close.

“Of course, Link. Now let’s get some dinner in you and Mama, and then we can deal with the rest.”

He slid Link into Rina’s arms, then stood and went to finish up dinner, Rina telling him the handful of things left to do for the meal. Link snuggled into her arms, her cool scales feeling nice against his swollen cheek, and Rina chirped softly while Gillian cut up the fish, Link calming down with the familiar safe sounds.

He knew he should’ve told them the truth from the start. Maybe Mama would make a big fuss, but that was just how she handled things, and sometimes... that was okay. And Gillian seemed to know pretty well how to help her keep it down when she needed to.

And regardless, no matter how big a fuss went on, he knew she and Gillian would keep him safe.

“So what did you find today, Link?” Rina asked him while Gillian finished cutting up the fish, and Link pulled the feather and rocks out of his pouch, showing her the different things he liked out each of them, and then telling her about what kind of bird he guessed the feather had come from.