#tae writes

@livvylupus ITS YAOI TIME

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Tauro had no idea what to do.

Engineer was unconscious in his arms, his bloody palm face up. Something had gone wrong faster than he could process, and he had no first aid or medical training that would apply here. He could set a bone, or stitch and bandage a wound. He knew how to do quick and rudimentary injury treatment simply because of how frequently people tended to get hurt in the field. But setting a bone was nothing like internal bleeding.

It’s not like Tauro even knew what had caused this sudden decline.

Tauro shook his head abruptly, trying to clear out the panic from his head. He had to do something. He carefully laid Engineer down on his side- in case he started coughing more blood- and hurried over to the cart. He found a waterskin and a clean cloth. He kept digging through the food crates until he found some ice fruit he had been planning to use to cope with the humid Faron weather. They were great for keeping water cool and treating heat exhaustion, so hopefully it could help En feel less feverish.

When Tauro turned around to go back to the tent, he glanced toward the moon. He frowned, realizing he’d forgotten it was a blood moon tonight.

He looked from the moon back to En, trying to figure out what time exactly En really started to go down hill. He hadn’t been doing well since the early afternoon, but it had seemed like he was just tired. Once the sun set, he got exponentially worse. The moon would’ve started to rise by the time they arrived here and set up camp.

It was common knowledge that people more sensitive to magic had a harder time dealing with blood moon nights, but he had never seen or even heard of a reaction this strong.

Tauro worked this out as he tended to Engineer in the only way he knew how. He bundled up an extra blanket and tucked it under his head after rolling him onto his back. He wet the cloth and wrung out some of the extra water, wrapping the ice fruit in it before resting it on En’s forehead after checking his temperature. He was still burning up, but there wasn’t much Tauro could do besides grab another blanket and tuck him in.

It wasn’t quite midnight yet, so all Tauro could do was pray his hunch was wrong- or else things would only get worse for Engineer before they got better.

⋆.˚ ☾⭒.˚

Tauro’s worst fears were confirmed as the moon rose higher in the air. He could feel the hair on his arms standing on end, but that was the worst he dealt with during a blood moon. He was sure no one was immune to the miasma, but it wasn’t like they had done a survey of Hyrule. Most people didn’t have a hard time simply because they weren’t especially sensitive to magic. It wasn’t a big part of daily life these days, though archeological records suggest there might have been a bigger emphasis on it in the past.

Tauro prayed to Hylia that Engineer wouldn’t suffer too much, but it would seem she wasn’t listening.

Around 11, Engineer started to stir. He let out a pained whine, shifting under the blanket. The ice pack slid off his forehead, but he moved again before Tauro could replace it. He rolled onto his side and curled up in apparent pain, his breathing hitched. He gripped his head, his hands pressed against his ears as if he was trying to shut out some loud noise.

“En! En, what’s going on?” Tauro asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as he set a hand on Engineer’s shoulder.

En jumped back and into a crouch, his hand going for the hilt of a blade that wasn’t there. He looked toward Tauro when he moved back in surprise, his vision blurry as he tried to fight through the haze filling his skull. He felt the deafening chatter of restless spirits, their hunger and excitement growing louder the higher the moon rose. Engineer pressed a hand against his head, falling onto one of his knees.

Tauro gasped and fell back at the sudden burst of movement from his companion. His instinctive reaction was to feel fear, but when he looked into En’s eyes all he saw was terror and pain. Tauro moved slow, tucking his legs underneath him and holding a hand out toward Engineer.

“En, it’s okay. I want to help you,” he said softly, hoping his body language and tone was reassuring.

Engineer took deep breaths, trying to get his thoughts straight. He shook his head, letting out another pained groan. “Too… loud…”

“What’s too loud?” he asked quietly, unable to hear anything besides the occasional cricket or nocturnal bird.

“You can’t hear them?” Engineer whimpered, turning his fear-filled eyes toward Tauro.

The Lurelian shook his head slowly. “Hear who, En?”

“The monsters. You can’t hear the monsters??”

Tauro felt his heart sink. He was right. This was a reaction to the blood moon. He hadn’t thought to explain the blood moon to En- it was such a normal part of life here, so it completely slipped his mind. He had forgotten Engineer was a foreigner- or at least assumed they had the blood moon too.

En let out another pained groan, ducking his head as he pressed his hands against his ears. Tauro moved forward, reaching out to En in an attempt to offer any possible comfort that he could. He knew midnight was fast approaching, and couldn’t even imagine the cacophony that was echoing in En’s head.

Before he could reach his companion, Tauro watched as he slowly moved one hand to wipe his hand under his nose. When he lifted his head and pulled his hand away, his fingers and face were smeared with blood. Engineer felt his head swimming as Tauro jumped forward, catching him as he went limp yet again.

Despite his worry and panic, Tauro couldn’t help but feel like losing consciousness might have been a mercy.

࣪ ִֶָ☾.࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

En woke up several hours later, still in Tauro’s arms. Tauro held him against his chest with his arms around him- he’d even managed to pull a blanket over them and wipe the blood from his hand and face. There was a waterskin and a cloth nearby- with red stains presumably from Engineer’s blood.

Engineer shifted, rubbing his bleary eyes as he started to wake up and process his surroundings. He looked up at Tauro, who was dozing off despite sitting up and holding the larger man. There was sunlight coming through the tent, so Engineer could only assume it was morning. En didn’t want to move too much and wake Tauro up- figuring he had probably been up late worrying.

Besides, En would be lying if he said it didn’t feel nice in his arms. It had been quite a while since his last hug.

Engineer let out a quiet sigh and relaxed against Tauro’s chest and tried to ignore the way his cheeks warmed as he did.

The movement was small, but it was enough to jolt Tauro awake. He looked down at En, who was looking up at him. The sense of relief that rushed through Tauro was enough to keep him from getting too flustered. For now, at least.

“En! You’re awake! How are you feeling?” he asked, sitting up straighter and raising his hand to check if he was still feverish.

“Much better, thank you. My head is quiet again. I just wish I knew what happened,” En replied, letting Tauro check his temperature.

En’s fever had gone down, but his cheeks were still flushed and Tauro’s hand felt pleasantly cool. Without thinking, En leaned his face against Tauro’s hand with a slight smile. Tauro blushed at this, feeling his heart skip a beat. The researcher let his hand rest there, slowly stroking his thumb across En’s cheekbone. Engineer felt his cheeks burn even more, and could hear the way Tauro’s heart started beating faster.

Surprisingly, Tauro was the first to snap out of it. He could see En’s cheeks grow redder, and could feel his heart pounding in his throat.

“Y-You uh- You don’t feel feverish anymore, but I-uhm- I bet you’re thirsty- you should drink some water,” He stammered out in a panic, reaching for the waterskin next to them.

His trembling hands fumbled it at first, and Engineer couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Tauro catch it and hold it out to En, who was still leaning against Tauro. Engineer took the waterskin and sat up a bit to drink easier- though he still didn’t pull too far away from Tauro. Judging from the way Tauro kept one hand on the stoker’s back, he didn’t seem to want En to move away either.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” Engineer said, leaning his head against Tauro’s shoulder as he replaced the cork of the waterskin.

Tauro felt like his cheeks were burning, but he still smiled down at the other man.

࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ

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࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ

Mirage woke up with a jolt the second lightning struck outside.

He immediately felt panic shoot through his body like he had personally been struck. His breathing hitched as his pupils shrank in fear. His muscles tensed, as if preparing for a fight, despite being very much frozen in place.

The sudden motion and loud crack of thunder was enough to rouse Skipper, whose grogginess was immediately gone the moment he saw how pale and tense Mirage was. He sat up, wrapping his arms around Mirage and pulling him close.

“Hey, hey, I’ve got you,” he said quietly, trying to soothe the boy. “What’s wrong?”

Mirage was trembling despite his tension, close to hyperventilating. Thunder cracked again, causing the boy to jump and cower back. He clutched at Skipper’s shirt- seemingly not even aware of his own body. The boy was absolutely petrified by the storm, and considering the state they found him in, and the circumstances behind how they got here, Skipper couldn’t exactly blame him. No doubt this boy had an unbelievable amount of trauma from thunderstorms.

The sailor held onto him, rubbing his back slowly and whispering reassurances that he was safe, that nothing was going to hurt him here. Skipper would keep him safe. No matter what, Skipper would keep him safe.

Unfortunately for the both of them, they were in a rainforest. It was likely that this storm would last for a while, and Skipper had no idea how long they would have after this storm before another started. The sailor would have to get him out of the rainforest as quick as possible. Hopefully it wasn’t too big, but they had no way of knowing that. As much as he would prefer to stay out of sight, taking the road would be their best option to finding a way out of here.

For now, Skipper simply held tight to Mirage, resting his chin on top of the boy’s head. He could feel the boy shaking as he pressed into the sailor’s arms. He jumped and curled up tighter with each crack of thunder, covering his ears as he desperately tried to shut out the storm.

⋆.ೃ࿔⛈ ݁ ˖*༄

The storm lasted longer than Skipper had hoped. Mirage was still trembling in his arms, but he wasn’t shaking as hard. The sound of rain started to grow quieter, the cracks of thunder less frequent and further away. Slowly Mirage began to unwind himself, his muscles releasing some of their built up tension as his hands moved away from his ears. Skipper didn’t rush him, letting him relax at his own pace. It took a while, but once he was sure Mirage was calm enough he spoke up.

“We should get going soon,” he said gently, rubbing his back slowly. “Do you think you’ll be okay?”

“We have to leave so fast?” Mirage asked, tensing slightly and looking up at him. “What if it starts storming again?”

“That’s why we should get going. We’re in a rainforest, so it’s probably going to start storming again in just a matter of time. We’ll have to move quick between these storms, or we’ll be stuck here forever,” Skipper said, stroking the younger boy’s hair and looking down at him.

Mirage frowned, his mismatched eyes downcast. “Okay.. You have a point,” he said with a sigh of resignation. “What if it starts raining before we find shelter?” Mirage asked after a moment, looking back up at Skipper.

“We’ll keep an eye out for shelter as we go, and once we find another spot we’ll stay there until the next storm. We’ll just hope we can find somewhere else before the next storm comes,” Skipper replied, hoping the uncertainty wouldn’t be too much for the boy.

Thankfully, after all he’d gone through Mirage was shockingly pragmatic when necessary. “Okay.. Okay,” he said with a nod, trying to bite back the panic rising in him at the thought of getting caught out in a storm.

Skipper hated to do this to the boy, but they didn’t have much choice. They couldn’t stay here forever. The sailor supposed he could’ve scouted ahead, but he wouldn’t want to leave Mirage alone for that long. Especially not if another storm hit before he got back.

The sailor stood and helped the younger boy up to his feet. He went out first, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. It looked like a relaxed position, but he was ready to lash out at any sign of a threat.

Skipper led the way back down to the hill, glancing toward the stable to make sure no one was looking their way before they started down the road.

⋆.˚ ☾⭒.˚☁︎ ˚｡⋆

Skipper was surprised and relieved at how soon they left the rainforest. It only took an hour before they were walking between two massive pillars at the edge of the forest- one with the head of an owl and one with its head broken off. At least, Skipper assumed it was a head. It seemed like the people of this kingdom- or in its history- really loved making giant carved monuments.

They reached a fork in the road, with signs pointing in each direction. When Skipper stepped up to read them, he was confronted with writing he didn’t understand. He groaned a little, running his fingers through his hair. Of course it wouldn’t be so easy.

After thinking for a moment, Skipper decided they should continue along the path they were on. It might be a bit obvious if someone came looking for them, but they would have less places to hide on a beach. They kept walking along, with Skipper keeping Mirage on the outer edge of the path. He was fully prepared to throw himself in between the younger boy and any danger.

He didn’t want to treat Mirage like a child too much- but only because he knew how infuriating it was when people treated him that way when he was Mirage’s age. Skipper was his age when he took on the ultimate evil to save his kingdom.

The Sailor glanced over at the boy and mulled over that thought. Skipper knew there were other evils out there besides Ganon- he’d even fought one of them. He saw the heavy trauma Mirage had, had seen terror in his eyes and the dissociated look of someone desperately trying to escape memories of their past. He remembered Mirage screaming out someone’s name, just as he’d done with Aryll and Tetra.

Skipper prayed to Hylia his hunch was wrong. The idea of someone else going through what he had to go through…

His heart ached at the thought.

࣪ ִֶָ☾.࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

They were walking for a few hours before Skipper saw another path branch off the road they were on. He looked down the path and saw what looked like another cave entrance. The sun was starting to go down, so he decided it might be a good place to spend the night. It would be sheltered, at least.

Skipper led the way, one hand on the hilt of his cutlass. He wasn’t sure what was in there, but if it was something hostile he at least wanted to be ready to draw his sword.

Surprisingly, the inside of the cave was more like a room. The floor was mostly dirt with some odd bricks- the same that created the walls and ceiling of the room. It was a smooth, white stone that had grown discolored with age. There were some cracks in the walls, but they were surprisingly intact for how old they must be. Against the walls were large stone storage shelves with mysterious green objects.

What really caught Skipper’s attention was a large capstan, made from the same stone the walls were made of- though it looked to be in much better shape. Directly across from the entrance was a door made from green stone bars, capped with a bronze-colored metal. Something about it triggered the same part of his brain that dungeons did on his previous adventures, but looking between the bars showed nothing behind them. That was curious on its own, but he figured he probably shouldn’t touch anything.

When he turned around, Mirage was inspecting the different objects on the shelves. His mismatched eyes had more light in them than they had since the storm passed earlier that day, which brought a relieved smile to Skipper’s lips.

࣪ ִֶָ☾.࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

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࣪ ִֶָ☾.࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

Once morning came, Grey and Nightshade discussed what to do about the other stranger in Hyrule.

They spoke in low voices as Nightshade cooked breakfast, while Zel kept Wanderer busy across the village square. It wasn’t like they didn’t trust him, but it was a.. sensitive matter. Zel and Nightshade mostly live the life of normal citizens these days, but they still had their roles to play. Zel may not live in the castle, but she was still technically the sovereign of the kingdom. And he was still her sworn knight and Hero of Hyrule.

They could change their names all they’d like, but they couldn’t change the whims of a Goddess.

“We should probably just tell him, right? He’ll find out eventually, and might not like that we lied,” Grey said, resting his chin in his palm as he sat cross-legged next to Nightshade, keeping the office across the square in his peripheral as he spoke with his cub.

Nightshade sighed, leaning to the side and pursing his lips. “I guess.. We don’t have to tell him everything, but we shouldn’t intentionally keep him in the dark.”

“Right, right. It’s just something weird and you’re the only person in the kingdom with the mobility to investigate,” Grey replied quietly, leaning back on his hands. “Are we going to tell him about Zel?”

Nightshade groaned, ruffling his hair as he thought. “I guess we probably should. I’ll wait until we leave to explain it all, no need to make Zel sit through his inevitable freak-out upon learning he was just being grilled by the Sovereign,” he added with a chuckle.

Grey laughed, watching as Nightshade popped a spoonful of food into his mouth to taste test it. He gave a satisfied nod as he chewed, pointing the ladle in the direction of his wife and their new brother.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going,” the larger man groaned, rolling his eyes and pushing himself up onto his feet to get Zel and Wanderer for breakfast.

⋆.ೃ࿔.☀︎ ݁ ˖*:･༄

After breakfast, Nightshade handed Gray his Sheikah Slate (2.0) so he could go to the different shops in town and resupply.

Nightshade went with Zel back to the office to let her know what him and Grey decided, and explained he didn’t think he could keep her sovereign status a secret. Wanderer would find out eventually, so he would prefer not to lie to him. He was hesitant at first, but Zel pulled him into her arms and told him it was okay. She trusted his judgement, so whatever he decided was appropriate to tell the nomad she would accept.

“I’m sorry we didn’t stay around longer,” Nightshade said, burying his face into her shoulder.

Zel smiled softly, stroking his hair. “It’s okay. These are extenuating circumstances. The Kingdom comes first, before even us,” she reassured, kissing his forehead.

Nightshade wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her into the air and spinning, grinning up at her. “Nothing will ever come before you, my love,” he said, kissing her cheek.

Zel laughed, whacking his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. Your pack is waiting for you,” she said, nodding over toward Grey and Wanderer as they left the archery shop.

Nightshade smiled softly, planting a soft, affectionate kiss on her lips. “I love you,” he said quietly, brushing her hair away from her face.

“I love you too,” she replied quietly, her cheeks a soft shade of pink. “I’ll see you next time.”

“And not before,” Nightshade replied, giving her another tight hug and a kiss before stepping back to jog over to his pack.

Grey and Wanderer waved across the clearing at Zel, who waved back at them, watching as they headed out of the village.

⋆☀︎.⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡

Once they were out of the village and back in the open air, Wanderer spoke up.

“I thought you would want to stay with your wife a little longer, Nightshade,” he said, a bit surprised at how quickly he was ready to carry on after all his excitement about seeing her.

“Ah… Yeah, she needs me to do some looking into things for her,” Nightshade said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She does? Like what?” Wanderer asked, tilting his head as he looked over at Nightshade.

Nightshade slid up to him and draped an arm around Wanderer’s neck. “Well, turns out you aren’t the only new person to show up in our kingdom lately. It’s pretty unusual, and it’s my job to look into any potential threats to the kingdom. It was weird enough finding you in the woods, but I don’t need to investigate you,” he said, chuckling and hoping it would be enough to reassure his brother that they trusted him.

“It’s your job? What do you mean,” Wanderer asked, raising an eyebrow at Nightshade but letting the other hang off him anyway.

It wasn’t like he weighed that much.

“Uhh.. well, promise not to freak out?” Nightshade asked, looking hesitantly at his companion.

Grey walked up behind him, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt and lifting him up. “You’re gonna freak him out,” he said, letting Nightshade flail about as he tried to get loose.

“Then put me down so I can explain!” Nightshade said with a slight growl- though there was no hint of anger or even annoyance in the sound.

Grey set Nightshade down, chuckling as Nightshade huffed and straightened his shirt.

Nightshade looked over at Wanderer, relieved to see more amusement than concern in his eyes. Good, they successfully avoided elevating the tension too much.

“Anyway-” Nightshade started, cutting himself off to shoot Grey a glare, “-so, uh, Zel is actually the monarch, and I’m at the very top of the military hierarchy- second in authority only to Zel. So when something crops up that’s weird or a potential threat she sends me out to go investigate it because I’m also the only Hylian that can move through the kingdom with any kind of speed.”

Wanderer’s feet froze as Nightshade spoke, slowly turning to stare in the direction of his companion. “I’m… sorry.. what?” he gaped.

“See? I knew he was gonna freak out,” Nightshade said, sticking his tongue out at Grey before turning back to Wanderer. “Look, our titles are basically just for show. Our kingdom has been decentralized for a while because our population is so low. Zel makes major decisions that impact the whole kingdom, and our military barely exists so it’s not as big of a deal as it sounds.”

“You can’t tell me you’re married to a monarch and then say it isn’t a big deal!” Wanderer groaned, running his hands down his face. “And you’re the top of the military?! I wouldn’t have even thought you were a soldier!”

Nightshade waved his hand, as if he could disperse Wanderer’s disbelief like smoke. “Well, yeah, technically. But really it’s basically just a symbolic title, it doesn’t mean anything outside of a very select group of people. No need to act differently, I swear.”

“Oh, I wasn’t going to act different. I just need to get used to the idea that the man who fell out of the sky is actually pretty important,” Wanderer said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Rude!” Nightshade gasped, sticking his tongue out at the nomad.

Wanderer gave him a light punch in the arm. “You can’t insist it’s no big deal then act surprised when I don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“Fair point,” Nightshade said with a grin, wrapping an arm around Wanderer’s neck

Grey smiled over at the two of them, glad Wanderer didn’t get too out of sorts with the news. Despite his attempts at looking nonchalant, he knew Nightshade must’ve been worried about how their new companion would react. Thankfully, the nomad seemed to take it in stride without asking too many questions.

There were a lot of things Nightshade didn’t like talking about- and after all he had gone through Grey couldn’t exactly blame him.

⋆☀︎.࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

“So how are we going to find this guy?” Wanderer asked, looking over at Nightshade with a tilted head.

“Well, he’s with Tauro- a Zonai researcher- on their way to Faron, which is in the South. They have to take a horse and carriage, so they’ll be on the road. They probably went over Eagus Bridge toward the Riverside Stable and followed the road South from there. We’ll have to walk to the stable, but from there we can use my horses to travel faster and hopefully catch up with them,” Nightshade explained, tapping his finger on his chin as he spoke.

He looked upward as he spoke, though his eyes darted back and forth as if he was looking at a map in his mind. Wanderer had come to assume Nightshade had this entire continent memorized, but it was impressive nonetheless.

“And what are we going to do when we catch up?”

Nightshade shrugged, grinning over at him. “No idea.”

Wanderer groaned and rolled his eyes, though a playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I don’t know why I expected any less.”

ִֶָ☾.

The trio reached Riverside Stable in early evening.

They decided to stop and rest for a while so Nightshade could use their cooking pot to make dinner. He made enough for them and the rest of the stable- even carrying a bowl inside to give to the worker manning the counter.

Unfortunately for them, a storm rolled in not long after they finished eating. They hurried inside to avoid getting soaked, followed by several others. After checking his Slate and determining the rain would last a few hours at least, he suggested just staying the night at the stable. Wanderer readily agreed once Nightshade said he could sleep in the Malanya bed.

@livvylupus Ohhh livvyyyyy

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

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⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆𓂃 ོ☼𓂃

Dim clung to Oak as he stared up at the crimson sky. Black clouds flew across the sky- far faster than they should be able to. It felt like a haze had descended into the gorge they were at the bottom of. Oak was trembling, staring ahead with wide eyes full of terror. Dim knew the look in his eyes- the dissociated stare of someone being haunted by demons of the past. He felt his shadow moving between them- a sensation that wasn’t helping his own dizziness.

Dim could recognize the far-off look in Oak’s eyes. He was somewhere distant in his own mind, trapped by some ghost of the past. Dim coughed hard against the acrid bite in the air, feeling like his throat was burning. His head swam as he struggled to think through the unseen haze.

Just as Dim was reaching the limit of what he could cope with and stay coherent, the world seemed to click back into its rightful place. The blood-red sky turned into the soft blue-black of night, filled with stars foreign yet familiar. The miasma around them seemed to get sucked right out of the air. It was disorienting in its own way, but it seemed to be exactly what Oak needed to return to the present.

Oak inhaled sharply, like he had been unknowingly holding his breath. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, leaning forward and pressing his hand to his face with a groan.

“Oak! Are you okay?” Dim gasped when Oak finally moved. He let out a sigh of relief, rubbing Oak’s back in an attempt to help ground him.

“Yeah.. Yeah, I think so,” he mumbled, rubbing small circles into his temples.

“Do you have any idea what just happened?” Dim asked, glancing anxiously toward the sky again.

Oak shook his head, pulling his hand from his face and looking down. “No.. I have no idea. I just, started to feel this.. indescribable panic. I think I was hearing things? I’m not really sure..”

“That’s weird,” Dim said, tilting his head. “Has that ever happened before?”

“I mean, I’ve had some panic attacks before, but it was never that bad. And I’ve never hallucinated before,” Oak replied, rubbing a hand down his face.

“You said there was something wrong with the moon. What did you mean?” Dim asked, curious but cautious about triggering him again.

Oak looked over, tilting his head. “I did? I don’t remember saying that…”

Dim raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly. “Really? Because it was one of the most ominous things I’ve ever heard,” he said, lightly punching Oak in the arm.

“Sorry, sorry,” Oak said with a slight chuckle, holding his hands up.

Dim smiled upon seeing Oak returning to his usual self. He let out a dramatic sigh and collapsed into Oak’s side. Oak let out a playful oof at the impact, but loosely draped an arm over Dim’s shoulder. It was still cold, so the return of the smaller man’s body heat was welcome. Dim shifted so he could look up at the sky, his lips downturned as his green eyes gazed upward.

“I wonder what that was…” he mused.

Both men silently prayed to Hylia it wouldn’t happen again.

☀︎⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Eventually, the pair managed to drift off to sleep together, feeling secure in each other’s company.

They woke up as the sun started to shine into the gorge. Dim felt his shadow buzzing and groaned, swatting at his shadow.

“Shut up, Umbra,” he mumbled- forgetting about Oak in his grogginess.

“Whozzat,” Oak mumbled, yawning and rubbing his eye with the heel of his palm.

Dim jumped in surprise, sitting up from where he’d been slumped against Oak. “Oh- uh- I was just dreaming, I think,” he said, chuckling nervously and trying to ignore the amused buzz from his shadow.

“If you say so,” the older man grumbled, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

Dim blew out his lamp and replaced it in his bag. “I guess we can’t put off figuring out how we’re getting out of here any longer,” he said, frowning and looking down the river.

Oak grabbed his now-dry shirt from where it was laid out on the ground. “I don’t think we have a choice besides swimming it,” he said with a deep sigh.

Dim ruffled his hair, fluffing it back up. “Here, let me take your shirt. If I put it in my bag it won’t get wet at least,” he said with a sigh, offering his hand out to take the shirt from him.

Oak passed it over to him, watching him loosely fold it before sticking it in his bag. Dim did the same with his own shirt, then rolled up his poncho and stuffed that inside. Neither of them were particularly excited at the prospect of having to swim for god knows how long, but they didn’t have any other options.

It was with great reluctance that the pair of them waded into the water and started making their way down the river.

⋆.ೃ࿔.𖤓 ݁ ˖*:･༄

Thankfully there were a few areas on the side of the river that they were able to stop at and rest. They took a break at each one, trying not to exhaust themselves too quickly.

They finally made their way to a larger rocky area just in time to avoid having to go over a waterfall. They took some extra time resting here, debating if they should just make their camp here for the night or keep traveling. Dim said he had the feeling they were getting close to somewhere they could walk again, so his suggestion was to go as far as they could before either night fell or they ran out of energy. Oak decided to trust his instincts, so off they went again.

The pair were able to wade most of the way forward, until they reached a short waterfall. Oak jumped down first, followed by Dim. They had to go down one more before they finally reached a piece of land they could walk along before having to cross the now-shallow river. Not long after that, they reached the end of the river and, at last, solid, walkable land.

Dim and Oak collapsed onto the ground, slumping into each other. Their muscles ached and they were exhausted, but they had made it- there was even a road in front of them!

A shared glance was all it took for them to agree they weren’t moving another inch until morning.

࣪ ִֶָ☾.⋆⁺₊✧

Dim pulled out his poncho and their shirts from his bag, passing Oak’s over to him. He laid the poncho out on the ground behind them so they could lay back on it together.

“I cannot wait to get out of this desert,” Dim groaned, crossing his arms over his face.

Oak pulled his shirt on and fell back onto the poncho, arms stretched above his head as he stared up at the sky. “Ugh, tell me about it. I miss the forest,” he said, sighing and closing his eyes.

“Oh man what I wouldn’t give to lay under a tree right now,” Dim groaned.

“Soft grass and a warm breeze sounds like paradise…”

Dim reached over and wacked Oak with the back of his hand. “Don’t torment me,” he said playfully.

“You started it!” Oak huffed, sticking his tongue out at Dim.

Dim laughed, waving his hand in the air. “Fine, fine. We’ll call it even,” he said, grinning over at his companion.

“Deal,” Oak replied, crossing his arms under his head and smiling.

⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆

The pair relaxed for the rest of the day, chatting idly between long stretches of comfortable silence.

As the night wore on and the temperature cooled, they scooted closer to each other. They were both tense as the sky darkened- waiting for a repeat of the night before. Once midnight passed uneventfully, they finally felt able to relax.

@livvylupus LOOK TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY :D

࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ

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࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ

The weather couldn’t be more perfect.

Tauro rode atop the horse pulling the carriage that Engineer was lounging in. Initially Engineer tried to insist he was okay to walk alongside the scholar, but Tauro wouldn’t hear any of it. They would have a long day of traveling ahead of them, so it would be good to reserve some of his energy. Eventually Tauro got Engineer to relent and agree to ride in the carriage for a while. Engineer asked for his help getting in, which resulted in Tauro standing stiffly next to the carriage while he held Engineer’s hand to help him balance as he climbed into the carriage.

Engineer sat on the bench of the carriage, one leg stretched out along it as he leaned against the forward rail. He held his hat on his lap, relaxing and smiling softly as the wind blew through his hair. He looked out over the unfamiliar landscape, resting his hand on the rail next to him. The rolling hills were covered in bright green grass, interspersed with clusters of trees. The crossed sturdy bridges over strong rivers, the sky a bright blue expanse above them. There were few clouds in sight all day, the breeze warm and gentle.

“Your country is absolutely gorgeous,” Engineer said to Tauro, looking over his shoulder at his companion and smiling.

Tauro nodded and grinned, looking out over the plains. “Yeah, it is. I grew up surrounded by cliffs so I didn’t have the best view inland. I love the ocean I grew up next to, but there’s so much out there to see,” Tauro replied, patting his horse’s neck absentmindedly.

“You grew up next to the ocean?” Engineer asked, adjusting so he could see Tauro better.

“Yeah, in a little fishing village in the South called Lurelin. I still have some family down there,” Tauro remarked with a nostalgic smile.

Engineer smiled, crossing his arms on the rail of the carriage and looking up at Tauro with affectionate hazel eyes. “You’ll have to show me someday,” he said without thinking much about it.

Tauro felt his cheeks warm, but a smile tugged at his lips regardless. “Okay.. If you want me to, sure.”

“I look forward to it,” Engineer replied, grinning brightly up at him.

⋆☀︎.

The pair took a rest at midday, finding a shady spot under a tree where they could sit and relax as they ate their lunch.

After they ate, Engineer walked alongside Tauro as he rode his horse. He was feeling a bit antsy, but he couldn’t place why. Maybe he just had too much energy. Whatever the reason, he felt it start to ease as he walked alongside his companion so he brushed it aside.

There was no reason to linger on it.

☀︎⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Engineer started to feel worse as the day wore on. The restless energy came back, and it felt like his skin was crawling. He was trying to hide his physical discomfort, but Tauro could see him growing paler as they continued to travel.

Around early evening, Tauro told Engineer to get in the carriage. Engineer tried to insist he was fine, but the researcher wouldn’t hear it. He hopped off his horse and grabbed Engineer by the hand to pull him back and help him into the carriage. Engineer blushed slightly as he was tugged along, but let himself be dragged. He carefully moved up the bench to lean against the front rail. Tauro gave his shoulder a pat and smiled at him as he walked by to get back on his horse to get traveling again.

࣪ ִֶָ☾.࿔*:･ﾟ

By nightfall the pair had reached the bottom of the Great Plateau. There was an area there frequently used as a camp by the researchers. It was a flat piece of land, shielded on one side by the walls of some ruined building. Next to the area was a small forest grove his horse would be able to graze in.

Tauro took the reigns of the horse to guide it closer to the grove, looking back at Engineer. He could see his shoulders rising and falling with deep breaths, so he assumed Engineer had fallen asleep. When he walked around the carriage, though, he gasped at the state Engineer was in. He was flushed and sweating, holding his head in his hands like he was trying to hold back a headache.

“Engineer? Are you okay?” he asked anxiously, setting his hand on Engineer’s shoulder.

The stoker lifted his head, dropping his hands to his lap to try and hide their shaking. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just feel a little dizzy. It’s probably just motion sickness, I’m okay,” he replied, trying to reassure his companion.

Tauro frowned, not quite convinced. “If you say so..” he said, moving to the back of the carriage to remove a few boxes with the tent, food, and bedrolls.

Engineer tried to step down, but his head swam as he stood. The world went sideways, but he crashed into something firm and warm instead of the hard ground he expected. He felt Tauro’s arms envelope him as he collected himself.

“S-sorry, I guess I was just sitting too long,” Engineer said with a sheepish chuckle, trying to brush off his obvious lightheadedness.

Tauro frowned and shook his head. “Alright, you just sit here while I set up the tent,” he said, hauling Engineer over to one of the boxes and sitting him down.

“Wha- no, I can help,” he said, trying to stand up- but immediately felt woozy again and fell back against the box. He caught himself, but waved his hand as Tauro rushed forward. “I’m sitting, I’m sitting.”

Tauro made sure he was stable before he set up the tent. He’d done it enough times it was practically muscle memory, so it took him no time at all to set up. He rolled out the carpet and propped up the front flap to create an awning, finally laying out the two bedrolls side by side- probably much closer than he would have if he was with someone else.

The Lurelian hoped Engineer wouldn’t pay any mind to the distance as he left the tent to go help his companion. Engineer had his head in his hands again, but he lifted his face when he heard Tauro approaching. He flexed his fingers, hoping he didn’t look like he was shaking as much as he felt like he was.

Engineer started to stand once Tauro reached him, gripping onto the carriage’s railing so hard his knuckles went white.

“Take it easy, En. Let’s get you to the tent,” Tauro said, taking his companion’s arm and wrapping it around his shoulders to help support him.

“En, huh?” teased Engineer, a slight smile on his lips despite how dazed he looked.

Tauro blushed, his heart skipping a beat. “Sorry- It just slipped out. I- I won’t call you that if-”

Engineer cut him off, grabbing his hand and smiling up at him. “No, no! I don’t mind, I like it. I’ve never had a nickname before, so it’s all yours if you want it,” Engineer replied, smiling brightly over at the researcher despite how dazed he looked.

Tauro couldn’t tell if Engineer was blushing, or just flushed. He felt hotter than usual, which made the scholar worry he had a fever. He didn’t know much about taking care of the sick beyond vague memories of how he took care of his little sister back in Lurelin when she caught a fever.

Once they reached the tent, Tauro helped lower Engineer onto his bedroll. En mumbled out a thank you as he sat down.

“Do you have any idea what’s wrong?” Tauro asked anxiously, pressing the back of his hand to Engineer’s forehead to check for a fever- shocked at how hot he felt.

“No.. I have no idea. My head is killing me. I.. Sorry, it’s- It’s hard to think,” he mumbled, his voice trailing off.

Engineer’s condition was quickly deteriorating. It felt like his thoughts were trying to wade through waist-high sludge. He knew it was just him and Tauro, but it felt like he could hear indistinct voices- like he was in a crowd with cotton stuffed in his ears. Tauro scooted closer, wrapping an arm around En to hold him steady.

En leaned into the man, trying to seek some sense of stability as his head swam. Something was wrong- very wrong. Engineer’s breathing became ragged, feeling like he was trying to breathe in a smoke-filled engine room. He certainly felt hot enough to be there.

Maybe he was on a train after all, considering the heat and burning sensation in his lungs. Maybe the desperate clawing in his chest was just the rattle of the train over the tracks. That would make more sense than his other hypothesis of some wild, feral beast wrecking havoc inside his torso.

But if he was on a train, how did he get here? There was no way his time in (Old?) Hyrule was just a dream. It couldn’t have been. But trains didn’t exist in Tauro’s country. There was no way he just made up Tauro.

En forced his eyes open, his vision blurred double. He wasn’t on the train. He was leaning on someone. He looked up, seeing Tauro looking down at him. He couldn’t see Tauro’s eyes very well, but even he could see worry etched in his face.

Engineer reached up, gently stroking his fingers over Tauro’s face and pushing his hair aside to see his eyes. They were a deep blue, like the color of the distant ocean. Worry and anxiety knitted his eyebrows together as he looked down at the man in his arms.

“Oh, good. I didn’t make you up,” Engineer mumbled, nearly slurring his words.

“You didn’t make-? En, hey, stay with me,” Tauro said, gasping as he watched Engineer’s eyelids fluttering.

All of a sudden Engineer started coughing hard. His throat felt raw, as if he’d been huffing caustic chemicals in a room full of coal smoke. The indistinct voices in his head grew louder, rattling around in his skull. There were snarls and growls, inhuman shrieks. It felt like there was an angry horde in his chest, their malevolence spreading through him like venom.

En clapped a hand over his mouth as he coughed, one hand clutching at his chest. After his fit started to subside, En felt something slick in his palm. He pulled his hand away and opened his fingers, seeing a splatter of red against his tanned skin.

“Oh.. that’s not ideal..” he mumbled, before the world went sideways.

He felt himself slipping out of consciousness, the distant echo of someone screaming his name cutting through the frantic noises of monsters in his head.

@livvylupus

⊹ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ˖

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⊹ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ˖

Mirage walked with his arms wrapped around one of Skipper’s.

Skipper talked idly with Armes as they walked, holding Mirage’s hand in his and letting the boy cling to him. It was a bit more difficult to walk like this, but he wouldn’t dare push the kid away. He clearly started to see Skipper as some sort of anchor (haha) so he wanted to provide that stability.

The first to notice the large monster camp was Mirage. He tugged on Skipper’s sleeve and pointed out the large platforms built close to the road. Skipper looked over, frowning as he saw a blue-colored Bokoblin sniffing at the air. He rested his hand on the hilt of his cutlass, but Armes spoke up before he could draw it.

“If we keep a good distance away they won’t come after us. Not many travelers pass through here, and tonight is the blood moon so most travelers will be at the stables,” Armes explained, looking over at Skipper.

“The blood moon?” the sailor asked, tilting his head as he looked over at the other.

“Oh, right. You guys aren’t from here,” Armes said, chuckling sheepishly. “Well, once a lunar cycle, when the moon is full, all of the monsters that were killed in the precious month come back to life. So you’d be risking injury for a monster that will be back again tomorrow.”

Skipper frowned, but nodded. “Okay, we’ll keep our distance. But walk on the other side of Mirage, so at least if they do come after us I’ll be between you guys.”

Armes nodded and did as asked, moving to walk on the far side of the road from the monster camp. Skipper kept his eye on them as they kept walking, letting Mirage guide him. The younger boy made sure Skipper stayed in the middle of the path, so he could keep his eye on the monsters as they walked by. They stayed quiet, just in case they caught the attention of the beasts. His hand gripped the hilt of his cutlass, but once they passed the camp without incident, he allowed himself to relax.

⋆.ೃ࿔⛈ ݁ ˖*༄

Not long after they passed the monster camp, they entered a tropical rainforest. The temperature rose a few degrees, but the humidity increased significantly. Birds chirped and sang in the distance, the underbrush rustling on either side of the path as small critters moved through it.

Mirage looked about curiously as they walked, taking in the strange environment. He knew forests, of course, but this wasn’t like any he had experienced. The trees were tall, with broad leaves and thick trunks that looked almost scaled. The underbrush was dense, full of ferns and vines of various sizes. He could see animals moving through, but most were too short for him to see. Not that Mirage was very tall himself, but in his defense he hasn’t had his growth spurt yet so he’s probably going to be super tall any time now and besides-

Skipper suddenly jumped, pushing Mirage further across the road and moving to shield him from whatever had startled him.

“What is it? Is there a monster?” Mirage asked, looking around him to see what in the world could have startled him like that.

Beside the road were three massive owl statues. They towered over the roadside, ornately carved from huge blocks of stone. In front of each statue was a simple pedestal- clearly designed to be offering plates. Centered on two pedestals was a bunch of bananas, laid across giant leaves.

“Why is there just a bundle of bananas on the ground??” Skipper gasped, looking anxiously toward the pedestals.

“Um, I’m not sure? There are a lot of offering stones around the country travelers pray at, so maybe that’s why?” Armes said with a slight shrug, clearly clueless himself.

“Skipper, are you afraid of bananas?” Mirage asked, looking up at him with a glint in his heterochromatic eyes.

Skipper recognized that look. It was the look of a younger sibling discovering something tease-worthy. He had seen it in his little sister’s eyes way too many times.

“I’m not afraid of bananas,” the sailor asserted, straightening but still shooting an anxious glance towards the bananas as they walked by them. “Bananas are just a bad omen. They’re harbingers of bad luck. That’s common knowledge to a sailor like me,” he huffed.

Mirage giggled, patting his shoulder. “Uh huh, sure. If that’s what you want to call your phobia that’s your business,” he said playfully.

“It’s not a phobia! Just you wait, something bad is going to happen later. Make sure you stay close to me, alright?” Skipper said, poking Mirage in the side.

The younger boy yelped and jumped, but still held onto Skipper’s arm. He leaned his head against the taller man’s shoulder and nodded. “I will,” he said, making sure to sound sincere.

Skipper smiled, ruffling the younger boy’s hair before turning his attention to Armes. “Are we getting close to the stable?” he asked.

Armes nodded, pointing out across the bridge they had just stepped on. “Yeah, it’s right on the other side of this bridge. The merchant should already be there, I’m guessing.”

“That’s some speedy service,” Skipper said with a smile.

He let himself be distracted by the sound of the waterfalls beside them, turning his head and gasping at the sight. Towering over them was several colossal waterfalls, spilling unfathomable amounts of water into the lake basin below them. The cliffs holding them were almost sheer, with beautiful red stone. The wind carried mists from the waterfalls over the bridge, providing a relieving cool after the humidity and heat trapped by the forest. Admittedly, it did make the bridge a bit slick, but as long as they didn’t run across it it would probably be fine.

☀︎⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

The sounds of the stable reached them as they crossed the bridge. Skipper could hear the distant chatter of people and calm, soothing music. There was other noises he didn’t recognize that sounded like some unfamiliar animal. People milled about the stable- a massive canvas tent with the towering figure of a horse head. Skipper looked up at the structure, tilting his head.

“What is that?” he asked curiously, looking toward Armes.

“Oh! That’s a sculpture of the Horse God, Malanya. She protects the stables and keeps monsters away,” he explained, smiling over at the sailor.

This explanation only seemed to confuse him more. “What is a horse..?”

Armes paused, tilting his head as he looked at Skipper. “You don’t know what a horse is?”

“Even I know what a horse is,” Mirage chimed in.

“Well, we don’t have horses where I’m from you little twerp,” Skipper said with playful frustration, wrapping his arm around Mirage’s neck and pulling him close, ruffling his hair.

Armes laughed at their antics. “Well, the merchant is probably inside. There are horses over there if you’d like to see them,” he said, pointing toward the side of the tent.

“Let’s go,” Mirage said brightly, grabbing Skipper’s wrist and dragging him over toward the horses.

Skipper let himself be dragged over, smiling at the boy’s enthusiasm. Only a few things had gotten him this energetic, so he was more than happy to let himself be dragged around. He didn’t put up any resistance, though he couldn’t help but notice a few eyes turn their way. That didn’t bode well. He thought about the bananas they had passed earlier, and immediately felt himself become more alert and tense. It could just be paranoia, but with Mirage in his care he was better off being safe than sorry. For now, though, he turned his attention to the horses as Mirage came to a stop.

There were three horses, each with their own stall. They were tall, powerful-looking animals, with sleek coats. Two of them had a dappled pattern- one brown and white, the other a bluish-grey and white, with a white mane and tail each. The third was mostly brown, with white-and-brown spotted haunches, with a black mane and tail. In front of them was a trough full of hay they were eating from. Every so often one would look up, ears flicking about as they smelled the air before huffing and going back to their food.

“Tada! Horses! You can ride them or use them to drag carriages or wagons,” Mirage explained happily.

“People ride those things?!” Skipper gasped, immediately feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Mirage giggled, grinning up at Skipper. “Are you scaarrrrred?” he asked in a teasing singsong-y voice.

“I’m not scared, you brat,” Skipper huffed, ruffling his hair but smiling as he listened to the boy laugh.

“Did you hear? Word is two foreigners… “

Skipper tensed, his ears perking up at the sound of voices coming from the other side of the tent wall. He couldn’t quite hear everything that was being said, but if they were talking about two foreigners to this land, they could very well mean him and Mirage.

“… looking for them..”

“Night… at the stables…”

“… said to send a… if we see…”

Three voices. It wasn’t much to piece together, but if they were talking about two foreigners, a night at the stables, and sending something if they’re seen… They could only be talking about Skipper and Mirage, right? If it was so noteworthy there was gossip about it, then it was unlikely there was an entire other pair of foreigners also spending the night at a stable. But if someone was sent for just because they were seen…

Skipper thought about the eyes that had been on them earlier. He had a decision to make. He looked over at Mirage, who was distracted by a dog nearby. That boy’s safety was his number one priority. He couldn’t be sure if Armes had brought them here on purpose or not, but the fact was he had brought them here, and he was inside the same tent as the voices. Skipper went over to Mirage’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“Do you trust me?” Skipper asked, his voice low as he looked over at Mirage. He didn’t want to take the time to explain what he heard and why he thought they should leave- he would later, but if they were in danger each second mattered.

Mirage looked over and frowned, but saw the seriousness in Skipper’s eyes. He shifted anxiously, but nodded and pressed close.

“Thank you,” Skipper said with a relieved smile. “Just walk next to me for now. Try not to draw attention,” he whispered to the boy, guiding him around one of the stone pillars blocking the band’s view from where the pair were.

There was no way out of here without walking in front of people, so they had to hope nobody would take enough notice of them to alert anybody. There was no way all of these people knew everyone in their kingdom, so maybe as long as they didn’t draw attention to themselves they would be fine.

Once they were out of sight, Skipper pulled Mirage off the path. There wasn’t much room between the path and the cliffside next to them, so there was only a narrow strip of underbrush and trees to mask their movements. He wanted to get off the trail at least, so they wouldn’t be as easy to spot from the stable. Skipper held onto Mirage’s hand as he led them along the cliff, waiting for any opening to move away from the path more. They managed to reach a short, steep hill and hurried up it. Mirage slipped on a loose rock, nearly dragging Skipper down with him, but the sailor had a firm grip on the boy’s hand and hoisted him up.

The top of the hill flattened out, but they were almost immediately blocked off by another cliff. Skipper swore under his breath but hurried along the narrow ledge until Mirage came to a stop and pulled on his hand, pointing to a hole in the cliffside.

“There’s a cave. Maybe we can hide in there for now?” Mirage suggested.

Skipper nodded, pulling the boy inside. The tunnel was long with a low ceiling, but thankfully the sailor was short enough to not need to crouch. The tunnel came to an abrupt dead end, but there was a small gap that led to another cavern. If they were in there, they’d be out of sight from the tunnel entrance. He hadn’t even seen this hole until Mirage pointed it out.

Skipper led the way in, letting out a sigh and running his fingers through his hair. “There were some people in the stable talking about some foreigners being seen recently. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but they said something about night at a stable, and sending for someone or something if they were seen. It really sounds like this country doesn’t get a lot of foreigners if it’s noteworthy that two showed up. And if it’s that rare, they were probably talking about us,” he explained, sitting down at the back of the cavern after unbuckling his cutlass.

“So you wanted to keep me safe, just in case?” Mirage asked, following Skipper’s lead in unbuckling his borrowed (stolen?) sword and sitting down beside him.

Skipper smiled, setting his hand on the boy’s head. “Yes, I did. Thank you for trusting me.”

Mirage leaned into Skipper’s side. “Thank you for saving me again,” he said, relaxing against the sailor’s side.

Not only had Skipper pulled him from the sea- twice- but he also carried him to someone that could help even as he was feverish and in shock, he sang a lullaby when he was scared, taught him how to make his own bag to carry his treasures in… Skipper wasn’t just his savior. He was Mirage’s guardian and protector. Skipper was his anchor. Any time he felt like he was going to get lost and drift away, the sailor was able to bring him back. When Mirage was scared, Skipper made him feel safe.

Even more importantly, though, Skipper was real. When everything felt like an illusion- like nothing more than a mirage- it was Skipper’s presence that reminded him he wasn’t just dreaming.

⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆

Mirage fell asleep beside Skipper fairly early in the night.

The sailor himself couldn’t fall asleep, feeling restless as the night wore on. He attributed it to the stress of trying to keep Mirage safe in an entirely unfamiliar country. He didn’t want to stray too far from the ocean, but he also couldn’t bet on Tetra finding him here. They also couldn’t go back to Lurelin, just in case he was right.

@livvylupus SNACK TIME

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

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࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

After horsing around and catching up with each other for a while, they migrated over to the public cooking pot so Nightshade could make them all dinner. Zel sat close to him, often leaning directly against him as he cooked. He was able to work around her as necessary, and if he had a free hand he used it to hold her. It was clear that casual physical contact between them was a favorite form of affection.

Zel spoke to Wanderer excitedly, asking all about his country. The nomad tried to be sparse with details, but it was difficult to. Honestly, after all he had experienced here he would rather forget about that place. If he had the choice, he would stay here in a heartbeat.

He sat next to Grey as he answered Zel’s questions. The few times he hesitated to answer a question, she immediately pivoted to something else. She understood that somethings were secrets and she dared not pry into those things. After all, he was surrounded by people with their own secrets. She didn’t want to risk Wanderer trying to press Nightshade for more information about the things he held close to his heart- or Grey, for that matter. He was like a brother to her too at this point.

Despite Purah’s worries, Zel knew that some day she’d think of Wanderer the same way.

࣪ ִֶָ☾.

Later that evening, Grey hooked an arm around Wanderer’s neck to lead him off to one of the researcher tents. Zel and Nightshade planned to borrow the loft Tauro usually slept in, considering there was a spare bedroll and Tauro wasn’t there. It wouldn’t be the first time, though they usually slept in one of the researcher tents. Nightshade hated feeling confined in the dark, but it wouldn’t be too bad if they left the light on. If the wind blew at the right angle there was even usually a breeze, which helped him feel less trapped.

Besides, he would put himself through hell for her as many times as necessary. They sat together on the spare bed, leaning against the wall. Zel had tucked herself up against his side, his arm wrapped around her. He nuzzled into her hair, smiling softly as they simply took in each other’s presence. There was an elephant they had to address, but for now all that mattered was them.

“How has your research with Purah been going?” he asked after a while, his voice soft with affection.

“It’s been going well. I think we might be close to a breakthrough with the Zonai devices,” she said, tilting her head up to grin excitedly at him without lifting it from his shoulder.

Nightshade looked down at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Oh yeah? How’s that?”

“That stranger that was with Tauro knows a lot about machines,” she replied, shifting so her back was against him.

She often spoke with her hands when she got on a roll, and this way she wouldn’t have to move out of his arms and still be able to gesticulate without potentially hitting him in the face. Nightshade frowned with concern at the mention of this stranger, but brushed her hair from her face tenderly before speaking again.

“What did you find out from him?” he asked her.

Zel was able to hear the hidden questions. Who is he? Where is he from? What did he tell you? It was strange enough for there to be one foreigner in their kingdom, let alone two. He knew Wanderer, but this other man was a complete stranger to both of them. Maybe after they left Kakariko Village they should go find them.

“He goes by Engineer. He said he’s from a different country across the sea. He came from Tarry Town with Setari, apparently. He said that he came from overseas when his ship wrecked off the coast of Akkala and managed to find his way there,” she explained, looking up over her shoulder at him.

“From the Akkala coast to Tarry Town? There isn’t an easy way to get from the shore to the town without scaling a cliff, unless he wrecked off Rist Peninsula,” Nightshade said, frowning as he took in this information.

“Well, I’m not sure if he climbed a cliff or not, but he does manual labor for job so he could probably easily make the hike up from the peninsula. But it’s a job I’ve never heard of. He said his job title is ‘stoker’, and he shovels this flammable stone called coal into an oven so the fire heats up water and the steam from the water uh.. I don’t remember some of it, but he drew some diagrams, though he called them schematics. Anyway, the steam powers an ‘engine,’ and the engine pushes along a ‘train.’ It sounds like steam-powered mine carts but they use them to travel and transport goods all around the country,” she told him.

The more she spoke, the more her hands moved. She gesticulated wildly, talking faster with excitement. Nightshade smiled as he listened to her, brushing her hair back and kissing her forehead again. She relaxed against him, feeling soothed by the familiar touch.

“In any case, he seems to know a lot about how the devices function and how they’re designed. He even explained how the wings probably work with what he called ‘aerodynamics.’ It seems like the tech in his home country is a lot more advanced then ours. We could probably learn a lot from him,” Zel continued, looking up at him with her ‘lost in the science’ gaze.

Nightshade snorted a laugh, tilting his head as he looked down at her. “Are we forgetting this is a complete stranger, from another country? Those aren’t exactly common here, and now there’s two- this Engineer guy and Wanderer.”

“Tell me about him,” Zel half asked, half prompted.

Nightshade smiled, leaning his head back against the wall. “Well, our meeting was really as simple as he said it was. Grey and I were cliff jumping on the Great Plateau, so I could help him learn to use the paraglider and practice for the next Glide ceremony, but things uh- didn’t work out right in the sky, so we fell into the Forest of Spirits. Grey caught himself on one branch but I hit them all on the way to the ground in front of Wanderer. He must have gotten here in a similar way to Grey- he said he fell asleep in a cave but when he woke up he was in the forest. But where he’s from everything is dead, decaying, or poisonous. There’s almost no wildlife, Hylian settlements are few and far between. He was barely surviving there,” Nightshade paused, letting out a sigh, his affectionate smile taking on a hint of sadness. “You should have seen the first time he saw a Hylian shroom. They’re nothing noteworthy to us, but he looked at it like he was looking at the Goddess Hylia herself. He saw a squirrel and I swear he got so excited he almost passed out.”

Zel looked up at him as he spoke, curling back up against his side. She knew how much the wildlife and the world around them meant to him. He woke up alone in that very forest, with no memory of any kind. Before his death, he lived an incredibly repressed life. He joined the Hyrulean Army when he was just a child, rising through the ranks so fast he was only 16 when he was appointed as her personal knight.

“He doesn’t mind talking about where he’s from, but he doesn’t talk about his own past much. Which is fine, because Grey and I don’t either. We haven’t seen him much in a fight, but he’s got similar scars as me and Grey. We have some suspicions, but nothing we’re confident about,” he said, looking out over the loft as he absentmindedly played with her hair.

Zel could guess at what those suspicions were. It wouldn’t be the first time the Goddess had brought them a wayward Hero. But, if Nightshade wasn’t confident in it she wouldn’t pry. This was one of the sides of him she loved, after all.

It often seemed like he speaks without thinking- like he just says whatever is on his mind without questioning if he should or not. Zel knew the truth, though. He put a lot of thought into what he said. He wouldn’t speak on something unless he was sure of what he was saying, and he could easily pick up when someone didn’t want to talk about something and was a natural at pivoting the conversation away from those things.

He had an entire set of ethics on what he considered okay and not okay to say, and those were rules he strictly adhered to. It was almost compulsive, but it was a manifestation of his refusal to speak before the Calamity. It was a compromise with himself- a way to give himself both freedom and control.

“Maybe we’ll get more answers soon,” Zel said, wrapping her arm around him and laying her head on his chest, listening to the thrum of his heart in his chest. “It’s almost midnight, isn’t it?” she asked, feeling his muscles tense beneath her.

Nightshade nodded, leaning his head back and pulling her closer. He hated the feeling of midnight on a Blood Moon. It made his scars itch, made the divine magic inside him grow restless and chaotic. His breathing grew more ragged as the miasma brought about by the moon grew thicker.

Zel sat up, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. Blood Moons often made her feel tense and on edge, but she was nowhere near as sensitive as her husband. Nightshade’s body had been through too much, had been exposed to too much magic and corruption. They always spent the Blood Moon together- she refused to allow him to suffer without her at his side.

Nightshade sank into her arms, listening to her hum a lullaby from her childhood. He rested his head on her shoulder, and found himself smiling despite the pain.

⋆.˚ ☾⭒.˚

Grey led Wanderer up the scaffolding built by the Research Teams.

There was a pair of tents on a platform near the Kakariko Zonai Dispenser, which were always left available for Nightshade and Grey on the nights of the Blood Moon. The Researchers tended to leave them open from one night before to one night after the Blood Moon, to let the three of them have their space. The privacy meant Grey could shift back and forth as necessary without risking freaking anyone else out and let them speak without reservation. It was exceedingly rare for Tauro to be out of town, so Grey was more than happy to let them have the extra alone time.

Besides, this would give them the chance to talk about what they needed to without risk.

The pair of them plopped down on the bedrolls laid out for them once the reached the tents. Grey stretched out on his bed, rolling back and forth akin to a dog adjusting its bed. Wanderer rubbed his arms, feeling his hair standing on end as he sat on his own bedroll, legs crossed in front of him.

“Is it going to storm or something? The air feels.. weird,” Wanderer said, frowning and looking out toward the darkened sky.

Grey looked over toward the nomad and frowned. “Tell me, are you especially sensitive to magic or spirits?”

Wanderer stiffened, glancing over at him. “Why do you ask?”

“Tonight is a Blood Moon. It’s a night where, at midnight, the restless spirits of slain monsters return to the physical realm. Basically, everything that was killed since the last one comes back to life. That’s why we need to keep such specific records of where the more dangerous monsters are. After the Blood Moon resurrects the monsters, we send out crews to take out the bigger camps or monsters that pose more risk to travelers. Because of the nature of the Moon, people who are especially sensitive to magic and some kinds of spirits tend to have a rough night,” Grey explained, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Magic and spirits, huh..?” Wanderer mumbled, glancing down and frowning. “I don’t know about spirits, but I am sensitive to magic,” he admitted.

“Do you wanna cuddle with Lyca? It helps Nightshade sometimes,” Grey said, grinning and nudging him playfully.

“How does cuddling a wolf help magic sensitivity?” Wanderer asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at him.

Grey grinned and ruffled his hair. “I’ll show you,” he said, his body briefly becoming shrouded in darkness, his form morphing from man to beast.

After a few seconds, Wanderer found himself sitting beside a large grey-and-white wolf, panting happily as his tail thumped against the platform beneath him. Grey- Lyca- stood up and padded over, laying down behind him curled around the other. Wanderer chuckled as he found himself wrapped in the warm fur of the wolf. He nestled down against Lyca the Grey and burrowed his face into the fluff.

“Okay.. I can see how this is comforting now,” he mumbled into the other’s side- chuckling again as he heard the wolf’s tail thump faster.

As the night dragged on, Wanderer felt sicker and sicker. His stomach churned, and he repeatedly had to repress bile rising in his throat. He was curled up against Grey, clutching his head in his hands. Grey curled tighter around him, resting his head against the nomad.