Ten years later, it all came crashing down...

Content Warnings for the series: The series will include 18+/Explicit fic and art (accordingly marked), angst, trauma, rape, graphic violence, temporary character death, minor/side character death, interpersonal violence between the Links, gender and sexuality headcanons, and Linkshipping.

Character List, with in-universe names and links to each respective bio:

The Zelda timeline as I will be using it personally

Skyloft = Skyward Sword, 26

Minish = Minish Cap, Four Swords, 20

Kokiri = Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Hyrule Warriors, 20 [27?]

Outset = Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, Hyrule Warriors, 22[?]

Chief = Spirit Tracks, Tri Force Heroes, Hyrule Warriors, 27 [29]

Ordon = Twilight Princess, 29

Four = Four Swords Adventures (Manga + Game), 24

Prince = Hyrule Warriors, Tri Force Heroes, 25

Rabbit = Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages, Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons, 26

Smith = Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, 26

Far = Legend of Zelda (1986), Adventure of Link, 20

Hateno = Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, 29

Plus a few others! The Fierce Deity The First Hero The Hero of Men Ravio

The AO3 Series (This will primarily be fanfic-based with occasional art, no comic is planned.)

My Messy Linkverse Playlist (in very rough timeline/story order)

Skyloft called them dark keese; Hateno didn’t think much of it as they fought off a small swarm of them. They went down easily, like any other keese, but Hateno was wrong to assume that their simple appearance meant that he was safe from elemental attacks. Skyloft’s shouted warning was a moment too late as one keese dove past Hateno’s shield to sink its fangs in his arm. Hateno hissed, flexing his hand to dismiss his shield and immediately drove his stone fist into the bat’s body. The force of the blow sent the keese flying, dead on impact, but a wet crack and a lingering pain in Hateno’s arm told him that something had been left behind. Another keese swooped at him and he sent the signal for his shield to reform.

Nothing happened.

Not a good time!

Hateno ducked beneath the screeching bat and shouted “I need cover!”

Smith was there, slicing the remaining keese down while Hateno smacked some sense into his prosthetic. The impact jarred his left arm unplesantly and he growled, reaching to pull out the dislodged fang. His right arm fumbled again, useless fingers pushing it deeper into his skin instead.

“Shit!”

“What’s wrong?” Smith asked, kicking the last keese off her sword.

“My arm’s not responding,” Hateno complained, and tapped his pad to remove it altogether.

“Let’s see if Chief can take a look at it,” Smith suggested, her hand offered to help Hateno stand.

Hateno took it but his legs were weak under him, sending him staggering against Smith. “Woah- what the…”

“What’s this?” Smith asked instead, pointing at the angry red lump on Hateno’s arm. “Looks like Chief has more important things to check?”

“Ah yeah, I got bit.”

“So did Prince. It didn’t look like… that.”

Hateno cringed. “Riiight…”

“What’s going on?” Chief asked. Hateno hadn’t noticed Smith wave him over… or maybe he just had a sixth sense for trouble. Was that a standard part of medical training? “Weren’t you just wearing your arm?”

“It’s glitching so I took it off,” Hateno waved it off and offered his other arm for inspection. “This one got bit by one of those keese, I think you’ll need to pull it out.”

Chief frowned and turned Hateno’s arm over. “Pull what out?”

“The… fang…” Hateno hissed as he saw what Chief was looking at. “I tried to grab it and only pushed it in further. I didn’t think it would heal over so fast.”

Chief pushed down on the raw lump of skin on Hateno’s arm, making him yelp as he found the buried fang. “Sorry. Let’s find a place to sit so I can dig that out.”

Smith winced and clapped Hateno on the shoulder. “Well, have fun with that.”

“Thanks,” Hateno groaned as Chief led him to a quieter corner. His steps were unsteady, more uncoordination than nerves, and Chief picked up on it immediately.

“The paralytic is still in your system,” Chief stated. “Prince recovered within minutes.”

“What?”

“Skyloft said that those dark keese target your ability to fight. Rabbit and a few of the others reognized the type.”

“That’s why my arm stopped responding?” Hateno asked, and Chief nodded.

“I don’t know if the effect is a venom or a curse, but it’s safe to assume it’ll get worse the longer the fang remains in you.”

“Yeah,” Hateno sighed. “Let me grab my poppy milk and-”

Chief grabbed Hateno’s hand before he could touch his pad. “No painkiller. I’m sorry, but again, I don’t know how the paralytic could react.”

Hateno swore. “So I just have to hold still and feel you cutting me open?”

Chief directed him to sit down and pulled two scapels from his bag, comparing their sizes. “I could ask Smith to hold you?”

“No thanks.”

“Keeping still shouldn’t be an issue until I get the fang out,” Chief pointed out wryly. “But yes, you will feel it. You can have your medicine as soon as your arm is closed again, alright?”

“Yeah,” Hateno breathed, and extended his arm for Chief to work on; he tried to, anyway. Just like the prosthetic, it no longer moved when he told it to. “…You’ll have to move my arm.”

Chief hummed acknowledgement and stretched Hateno’s arm out. He cleaned the area around the keese bite and Hateno narrowly avoided biting his tongue as Chief raised the scapel to his arm.

“Deep breaths. I’ll have it out soon.”

Hateno opened his mouth to retort that he was breathing but an involuntary scream left him instead as Chief made the first cut into his skin. It was hard to stop screaming after that. Chief didn’t allow him time to catch his breath as he sliced deeper through layers of muscle, searching for buried fang. Hateno couldn’t pull away, he couldn’t fight back, he couldn’t even wipe the tears from his own face. He was trapped, not by Chief’s loose grip on his arm, but by that fucking curse the keese had embedded in him.

Chief exchanged his scapel for tweezers and Hateno did bite his tongue this time as metal and bone scraped inside his skin. Chief quickly pulled the fang out, his own hand starting to shake as the curse reached him too. Hateno watched through blurry eyes as, without a moment’s hesitation, Chief threw the fang into the fire that someone had started. There were a few startled yelps but no signs of a magical explosion.

They both sat quietly for a minute, Chief breathing heavily and Hateno still shaking with sobs that refused to stop even though it was over. His eyes were squeezed shut against the tears, so he didn’t realize that Chief had moved closer until there was a hand on the back of his neck and soft lips pressed to his.

That was certainly a surprise, though Hateno wasted no time in desperately leaning into the kiss. He tasted salt and copper and felt a warm glow in his chest because Chief had kissed him first. He was always so shy about it, Hateno had assumed that Chief had forgotten that he could initiate.

Hateno was reminded fondly of their first time, when Chief had been bedridden with stitches down his back. What Hateno had told Chief then stood true now.

“They say that a kiss makes the pain go away.”

He didn’t want Chief to pull away, even though rationally he knew that his arm was still open and bleeding. He opened his eyes to shining sea-green, a bemused smile on lips he tried to chase.

“Ah- not yet,” Chief said, holding him back with a hand on his chest. “Let me close this up, first.”

Hateno groaned in disappointment, but he couldn’t deny his relief as Chief helped him down a vial of poppy milk. He sighed, feeling the pain dull even as Chief pulled a needle and thread through the wound.

Outset pulled his blanket over his head and groaned. His head hurt, it had been hurting all night and he had barely gotten any sleep which hadn’t improved the pain at all. The brightbloom in the center of the tent, which usually provided a comforting glow, pierced through his eyelids like a knife. Sunrise was unavoidable and terrible, just like the pounding pain in his skull.

“You alright, Outset?” Skyloft’s soft voice asked above him, and Outset groaned again.

“Doing great.”

“Mmhm. Can I see your face?”

Outset reluctantly sat up, his head spinning even though he moved slowly. He squeezed his eyes shut against the light and Skyloft carefully touched his face.

“What’s wrong?” Skyloft asked as he moved Outset’s face, checking for marks that weren’t there.

“My brain’s being squeezed,” Outset complained. Staying upright was too much, between the pain and a rising wave of nausea, and he let himself fall forward into Skyloft’s chest. That was better. It was dark here, and warm.

Skyloft’s arms moved down to hold him. “You haven’t hit your head recently, have you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m not concussed, I swear.”

“It might just be a migraine then.” Skyloft felt the back of Outset’s head, still not finding anything because he was telling the truth.

“Is this what they’re like? It sucks,” Outset said, then frowned when Skyloft’s hands fell away from his hair. “Wait… do that again?”

“Do what? Touch your hair? I didn’t miss something, did I?”

“No, it’s just-” Outset huffed. “It feels nice. It’s a distraction from the pain.”

“Oh! Of course,” Skyloft laughed quietly, and Outset was able to ignore the headache for a while as gentle fingers scratched his scalp.

Morning came swiftly and Outset buried his face in Skyloft’s shirt in a futile attempt to hide from the sun. Blankets shifted as the others in the tent woke up, and Outset flinched when Four’s voice hurt just as much as the light.

“Aw, how sweet,” Four cooed, and Outset pried one hand out of Skyloft’s hug to flip him off.

“’S not sweet. I have a migraine.”

“And you haven’t asked Hateno for a cold cloth for the back of your neck?” Outset could hear Four roll his eyes.

“Isn’t he still asleep?”

“Nah, he’s awake. He’s just quiet.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Skyloft admitted. “Hateno?”

“Yeah, I heard you. Give me a sec.”

Outset heard Hateno tap the pad, then the odd sound of it materializing some items. Hateno handed them over and Skyloft murmured, “Thank you. Outset, here-”

Rabbit was surprised when Chief approached him with a request to drop by Kokiri’s tent. What did he have to offer that the medic, Kokiri’s close friend, didn’t? Even after their visit to the Gerudo Fortress, Rabbit wouldn’t lay claim to Kokiri’s trust. Months of traveling together had shown that if anyone tried to close the distance, Kokiri would take two steps back. Still, he snatched his bag and went to see what was wrong.

He entered slowly, in case the man threw something at him, but he must not have been expecting anyone except Chief. He had pushed himself to the far corner of the tent, curled up tight on the bare floor. His sleeping mat and blanket were bunched up in a messy pile, evidently kicked away, and Rabbit’s gaze went straight to the obvious bloodstains. Was he bleeding? Chief should have been able to handle that, unless…

He looked closer at Kokiri, saw the way he was curled around the same dark staining on his pants.

He was bleeding, but not in a way that could be fixed so easily.

“Hey, it’s me,” Rabbit said, and Kokiri’s head finally snapped up. “Chief sent me.”

Kokiri glared at him, but Rabbit could see that he was shaking. Unsurprising, given how he always seemed to disappear when post-battle injuries left too much blood on the ground.

“Let’s get this cleaned up,” Rabbit said, leaving him no time to argue. He knelt to search through his bag for something and asked, “I assume you weren’t expecting this. Are you carrying pads with you?”

As expected, Kokiri shook his head, so Rabbit tossed over a few of his own. “Here. My cycle just ended, so I won’t be needing those for a while. Put one on. I’ll go make some tea while you change since you’re obviously cramping.”

Kokiri was still too stunned to respond as Rabbit ducked out of the tent. Honestly, traveling with these heroes was much like looking in a mirror some days, in more ways than one. None of them could get away with their usual habits of concealing their pain like a wild animal.

There was enough water to fill Rabbit’s hot water bottle after he made the tea, which gave Kokiri plenty of time to change while Rabbit was busy. He assured Chief that he had it covered, reported to Prince that they would be stuck for another week or so, then returned to Kokiri’s tent.

Kokiri was sitting upright now, still painfully hunched over himself, and the soiled pants had joined the pile of bedding. He silently accepted the cup of tea and the hot water bottle pressed to his lap. Rabbit sat beside him, letting Kokiri settle and judging whether his presence was fine.

“Will you hurt me if I touch you?” This time, Rabbit waited for Kokiri to process the question.

Kokiri glanced at him over his cup with narrow eyes, sighed then shook his head. Rabbit scooted closer and simply let their shoulders touch. Kokiri didn’t reciprocate the gesture, but he didn’t pull away.

“Is this the first time since Draga was born?” Rabbit asked softly.

Kokiri’s breath hitched, and he managed to sign a shaky “Yes” before he broke. This was a side of him that few were allowed to see, that crumbled into quiet sobbing as Rabbit gently pulled him into a full embrace.

“Shh, I know. I know,” Rabbit whispered, and by the gods he wished he didn’t. He knew the helplessnes and heartbreak of it all, the injustice of the pain while everything was still fresh and raw and new.