Chapter Text
You could cut the tension in the tent with a knife.
At least Link thought he could. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath as if they were afraid that a single soft sigh would shift the stiff atmosphere into a fight. Link could feel the burning anger and hatred radiating off of his dad. He tried to subtly shift slightly away but the hand on his arm tightened, stopping him from going any further. He always got a twisting ache in his stomach whenever his dad got this particularly angry, not that it was ever directed at him or that his dad would ever hurt him.
The Tattoo guy was talking again and ‘Goddesses, did he ever shut up?’ Link thought. He was only digging his own grave deeper at this stage. Whatever hope the others had of making it out of this conversation with their lives intact, their leader did not share it.
His dad and Tattoo guy were arguing with each other now, well more like shouting at one another. He could see that the other Hylians were getting anxious, some had even their hands on their weapons. Behind him, he could feel the tension rolling off of his mom. He vaguely registered his dad letting go of his arm and standing.
He wishes he could pay attention and help his father but he was too busy focusing on what Tattoo guy said, that he would be dragged with them whenever they moved between worlds.
That couldn’t be true, could it?
Magic was real and it was powerful, that much he knew, but it wasn’t powerful enough to transcend between worlds, he was sure of it. Midna though, she causally moved between the Twilight Realm and here so what’s stopping them from doing the same thing? But surely, moving between realms was nothing when compared to moving between worlds. One would require much more magic than the other unless what Tattoo guy said was true and that Hylia was the one pushing them from one world to the next. And if Hylia was behind it, then how could he stop himself from being pulled along for the ride.
You can’t fight the will of a goddess no matter how hard you try. There’s plenty of stories warning you not to unless you wanted to face their wrath. Zelda would always scold him whenever he made fun of those stories.
If what they were saying was true and he was pulled with them to a different Hyrule, what then? He wasn’t going to follow a bunch of Ganon-hating Hylians. It wouldn’t be long before he ended up trying to seriously maim one of them and while he was no novice when it came to combat, he doubted his ability to take all of them on at once. Their first encounter proved that he couldn’t.
‘Go, go, go.’
So maybe a tiny, totally insignificant part of him did want to go with these Hylians, he could admit that much to himself.
While the Gerudo have always felt like family and he would gladly claim himself as one, he couldn’t deny the small part of him that said he didn’t belong. He still remembers his childhood where his skin would burn where no one else’s would, how he always had to wear much more protection against the desert sun. His hair was a mess of bright gold locks while everyone else had red locks. His eyes were a startling blue when compared to the normal green and gold hues the Gerudo possessed. And of course, he was still teased for the special treatment his dad always gave him.
He could still remember Sika calling him a ‘freak’ and telling him he had no right to be here.
Maybe these guys, if they really were past versions of himself, felt the same way? Like they didn’t belong either.
No.
He shook his head to get rid of that train of thought. Now wasn’t the best time for a life crisis. He just wanted to go back to Gerudo Town and to be done with this day. Honestly, he must have done something awful in a past life to deserve this.
Okay, stupid thought considering the situation.
He tuned back into the argument when he noticed that his dad had stepped away from him and was pointing his sword at Tattoo guy.
There was plenty of time to panic later.
“If you insist on spitting lies from your foul mouth then I shall simply cut your tongue from it,” his dad threatened, “Maybe then, that will silence you.”
Yeah, he really should have paid more attention.
Tattoo guy had pulled his own sword out, a long blade with a blue hilt and leather-bound grip, but kept his guard low. The other Hylians had copied him and also had their weapons ready. Link scrambled to get his twin scimitars that he had left down on the floor earlier. He would be damned if he left himself unarmed when this inevitably turned into a fight.
“What’s your plan Ganon? Did you just take this Link in the hopes of using him for your own gain?” Maybe-Legend guy demanded, “Do you honestly think you’ll get away with it? Are you so cocky that you aren’t afraid you’ll wake up a sword through your chest? I heard it’s a good look on yo- “
Link doesn’t remember moving but one moment his beside his dad and in the next, he has one of his swords at the Hylian’s neck. He debates on pushing forward just enough to cut the damn bastard’s throat open. He’s just angry. Angry at the whole situation. Angry at every non-Gerudo think his dad is the next evil incarnate. And how dare this dirty Hylian imply that his father is using him or even suggest that Link would betray him.
They know nothing.
“Don’t you ever,” he slightly leaned his weight into the sword and watched with dark satisfaction as a bead of blood appeared, “ever say shit like that again.”
“Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do about it?” Maybe-Legend snarled, “Going to kill me? Some freaking Hero you turned out to be.”
“Is asking questions all you do? And shut up about all that damn Hero shit, I’m no Hero of Courage and I’m not some Chosen One so shut up!”
“Link, get back here now!”
Link ignored his father and kept glaring at the Hylian.
“LINK!”
“They’ve done nothing but badmouth you all day, claiming that you’re a reincarnation of some evil demon king and now they come in here and claim that you’re just using me and honestly, I’m sick of it!”
A rumbling starts up beneath him and he glances down only to watch in horror as the ground tears itself apart under his feet. He’s panicking, he knows this because he can’t move any of his limbs, can’t push himself away from whatever is happening.
In his panic, he can just about hear that voice softly whispering ‘safe, safe, safe’.
Black and purple smoke begins to dance up around him in spirals and for just a moment he suspended in the air. He can make out a forest in the tear, lush, and green and so very different from the desert they are in now. He yanks his gaze from it and looks towards his parents.
“Dad?”
He begins falling.
¤¤¤
Ganon watches as a portal made of swirling purples and blacks opened up beneath his son and the others. There was a split second where everything seemed to hold still, like the world itself was holding its breath waiting with rapt attention for what was about to happen next.
There is a buzzing sound in his ear. His skin felt too tight. That dark, dark, essence that sometimes pooled behind his eyes when he was truly angry and on the verge of losing control, practically sings at the look of horror and fear on his son’s face.
“Dad?”
Ganon shoots forward, his hand outstretched towards his son as he falls through the portal with the other Heroes.