interlude dream; nought can deform the human race

[tapferkeit]

WARNING for some gore! May talk about brainwashing in the comments, so if that makes you uneasy, proceed with caution.

Also placeholding! Tags will come later. I just wanted to get this up.

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[heavyheels]

"... Link?"

Chie had been running, she'd been in Inaba, and suddenly, she wasn't there anymore. Now, she finds herself here, at this scene of carnage, eyes wide to take in the blood-soaked scene in front of her.

"Link, what's going on?"

[tapferkeit]

The dream ripples. Link looks over his shoulder at Chie. For a moment - just a brief moment, Link's form flickers, and he's in a blood soaked trenchcoat, holding a glaive in his hand. But then it changes, and he's the Link she'd know from Demeleier. Older, more at ease in his body.

And he's standing just a little in front of her, arm held out as if to stop her going further. His eyes are fixed on the approaching Iron Knuckle.

"They're brainwashed Gerudo. The spell won't break until they die." His hands are still soaked with the blood of the first one. "Be careful - they're really tough..."

[heavyheels]

That quick flash of transformation was still long enough to make Chie gasp. She'd never forget that first encounter with Link - the battle by the well, after Adachi had scampered off - she'd never forget the menacing sight of Link's metamorphosis into a replica of Adachi's Persona. She stumbles backward, equally horrified at the bloodshed and Link's momentary conversion into that more sinister form.

"You ... you can't just kill them!" They were people too, weren't they?

[tapferkeit]

Link looks at her like he’s been slapped in the face, his eyes wide. Hearing that same reaction he’d had is disconcerting. And said as though he’s a villain here…

He shakes his head, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture. All the while, he’s very conscious of that Iron Knuckle coming closer and closer. “Chie - you have to. They’ve been cursed - and the only way to break it is to - you saw!” And he’s surprised to find his voice shaking. His own guardian, the Great Deku tree… he’d died because of Ganondorf’s curse. What chance did Gerudo have? They were just people - casualties of war. If a Guardian spirit had no chance…

He hears those footsteps stop for a moment, but then they start up again. He looks over at them.

“Chie, if you don’t, they’ll just keep going. They’re not people like that. You need to help them - and the only way to do that is -” He looks away from her, back over to the monster. Evil. It’s one of the small evils of Ganondorf’s reign. Small, but no less horrible.

[thehandofwisdom]

[A sharp gasp might alert Link to her presence behind him. It took her a while to find her bearings in this new dream, but she doesn't miss that mercy strike. Nor does she miss the telltale sound of another approaching enemy.]

No...

[It's whispered as she turns to look, worry clear in her eyes. She doesn't want him to have to keep going through this.]

[tapferkeit]

[He’s already stood, and is about to turn to face the Iron Knuckle when he hears that “no”. He whirls around, eyes wide.]

Zelda? But -

[The Iron Knuckle smashes its axe in a sidewards strike. Link is too close for the deadly blade to catch him, but he’s winded by the thick, iron handle and is thrown back several feet. The air explodes out of his lungs and he lands beside the dead figure of the previous Iron Knuckle

[thehandofwisdom]

[She cries out when he is hit, but like in the past, she is unable to do anything to help. Even though there's no wall of fire separating them, she still cannot move towards him. It isn't until he stumbles towards her, out of breath, that she is able to think. She studies him, recognizing in his face the Link she should have sent back in time, not the one who had the opportunity to grow up with a normal childhood.

That can't be right. She heard him say so himself. He's grown up, properly this time...

She reaches out for him.]

Link, this isn't real. We have to... [Do what? She doesn't know to stop this...illusion? Dream? It feels so real.] We have to stop this!

[tapferkeit]

[He wipes his mouth on his shoulder and then nods to her.] I know. I need to... get by them, then I can face him. I have to. It's what I have to do.