Be True XX [Male!ReaderxLink]

The boat ride back was silent.

”Is that the damn fortress?” (Name) cried against the crashing waves of the blackened sea.

“That better be coz I ain’t gonna search around anymore in this crappy weather!” Anita bellowed back as she drove the ship through the mountainous waves, occasionally crashing right through the heart and emerging victorious, albeit soaked and chilled to the bone. It was kinda funny how the frigid water made Link’s teeth clack together rhythmically, (Name) mused.

“That’s it!” The sharp cry came from Link as they peaked a wave. “I’d remember that thing any day! My sister was kidnapped and brought there, y’know!”

“Nobody cares about that right now!” The mailman shrieked, hanging onto the mast for dear life when footing got unreliable.

The young knight whined loudly. “Care about me more!” Another whimper of betrayal and bratty-ness emitted from Link as (Name) screamed “no” into the harsh storm. “You’re so cruel!”

“You’re just figuring this out?!”

A small smile laced into (Name)’s features as he remembered the trip. It was interesting, to say in the least, but an experience he would not care to embrace again. Suddenly, the boat lurched. (Name), expecting the worst, shot up and rushed to the deck. Maybe it was a pirate ship, maybe they crashed into a fatal iceberg that’d drown the ship and kill them all, maybe they—

“Land ho!” Link cheered from atop the crow’s nest. (Name) deadpanned.

Oh, so we just anchored. Good thing I didn’t freak out to Anita. A breath of relief came from (Name) as he realized the nearly-fatal mistake, that being the everlasting pain he’d receive from Link and Anita’s taunting.

Anita sighed loudly as she took down the sails. “Thank sweet mother Din we’re back… Never thought we’d actually get the booty.”

“The what?” (Name) inquired.

“The booty,” She responded.

“Hehe, she said booty,” Link chirped, giggling madly.

“… It’s jargon for “treasure,” you dumbasses.” With a hefty huff, all sails were tied, and all three of the passengers left the ship.

Eagerness overwhelmed them as they headed to the shop.

”Where’s the throne room?!” Anita questioned in panic as she fended off the creatures of the fortress with eager hacks and slashes of her machete.

Link droned “uhhh” for about two solid minutes before answering. “Actually, it’s not really a throne room, it’s kinda outside, so it’s like a throne balcony—“

Growling in annoyance, (Name) Grabbed Link by the front of his tunic. “Where’s the fucking throne room?!” He hissed, a threatening tone tainting his words.

“It’s up there!” Link squeaked in desperate retaliation. The knight pointed upwards to the pieces of platforms that remained after he fought the giant bird that resided in the fortress. It all looked like pure rubble, honestly, and would probably break if any of them jumped from any of the platforms. Luckily, there were conveniently placed pegs in the wall that one could use a claw-shot on to climb up. Marks were already present in the wood, indicating someone, no doubt that being Link, already used them and had successfully gotten to the top.

(Name) swallowed as he looked up. “Damn.”

“Oi, Benvolio, we got what you wanted!” Cried Anita as she plopped the linen-wrapped chunk of rock onto the oak table.

A chorus of objects falling, glass breaking, and gasping of the shop owner emitted from the back before Benvolio emerged in all his glittery glory. The man’s keen eyes gazed at the heap of cloth in anticipation before slender fingers delicately unveiled the alluring gem. Everyone held their breath.

“Fascinating,” Benvolio exhaled, words shaking with the excitement he held back. “Marvellous, simply marvellous! I shall get to work on it right away!” With that, the artisan swaddled the precious stone in the linen before trotting to the back to get to work.

Anita’s and Link’s eyes snapped to (Name). The young man they stared at wore an anxious mask that seemed to hide the growing elation pooling behind bright (e/c) eyes. The watchers wondered what was going through the (h/c) lad’s mind, only to simultaneously recognize what they were seeing was a rare moment of anxiety which (Name) never wore in their time of knowing him. It was a tad unnerving.

“So, y’still unsure about going home, Kiddo?” Anita inquired, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

(Name) shifted, looking down at the ground, hands fisting themselves into tight bundles. “I’m going back, I just… Know I’m gonna miss this,” he confessed, hanging his head with a dejected sigh as his shoulders took on a heavy weight and sunk.

Sapphire eyes blinked at the melancholy young man before them. “Whatcha talking about?” Link quipped, not hesitating to get into (Name)’s face. “We’ll still be able to talk!” Before (Name) could ask just how they’d be able to communicate, a crystalline, ocean blue stone was whipped out from Link’s pocket. “We can talk through the gossip stone! I can convince Tetra to give me the other one, y’know? She owes me anyway!”

Curiously, (Name) took the stone and examined the transparent blue properties of it. “So… This thing can let us communicate.”

“Yep! Good ol’ gossip stone never let me down before!” Link declared, a childish grin spreading across his slightly-tanned face. (Name) smiled, inwardly cursing how contagious the greenie’s happiness was.

“Thanks.”

The several hours it took for the ocarina to be completed felt like days—no, they felt like months and there wasn’t a thing the entourage could do to speed things up. As much as (Name) hated to admit it, everything depended on the artist right now.

During the wait, the three decided to take a tour around the town they already knew so well and eventually ended up splitting to go to what they desired; Link headed to the candy shop, and Anita checked into the cryptic shop. (Name), now left alone, was at the mercy of his own thoughts as he sat, leaning against the gravestone, perched at the top of a grassy clearing. There, he closed his eyes.

As if his eyes were opened again, (Name) saw images of Hyrule—his Hyrule—dance before him. Illustrations of the grand lake, the titanic city, the monstrous trees and many other bewildering, nostalgic sights swung into his memory, fading in and out after each other. He could smell the beckoning scent of familiar blossoms as a gust of wind combed through his hair, styling it in a windswept fashion. Memories held the sweet taste of ripe oranges from the farmer’s market and caused (Name)’s mouth to water. In a mere second, he had dived head-first into the nostalgia of his past.

In a mere second, he had gone home.

“(Name)!” Anita’s voice cried, effectively bringing him back to the present.

(E/c) eyes snapped open, locking onto the woman instantly. “What is it?”

“He’s done!” An elated smile lit up Anita’s normally cool, composed face. “Come on, come on, I wanna see how this time magic works.”

Within minutes, the trio relocated themselves back into the small shop.

The silence in the air was thick, but an excited buzz was clearly sensed as anticipation grew. (Name) swallowed thickly the moment Benvolio popped out from the back with a something swaddled tightly, not unlike a newborn, in black velvet.

Eager eyes peered at the bundle as the man slowly unwrapped it, revealing the beautiful, iridescent blue piece of artwork in the middle. Soft gasps were heard throughout the room as they took in the breath-taking sculpture. It was just as (Name) remembered it.

“It’s… Just like the one Link has…” He murmured, reaching out, hesitating. Only when Benvolio chuckled and gave him the go-ahead did (Name) take the fine item into his hands. It rested comfortably, but with an awkward edge as a new instrument feels to all beginner players. An oddly comforting essence poured from every groove and hole of the instrument, soothing any anxiety in (Name)’s heart as he held it close, vividly remembering his lover showing him how to hold the unique instrument.

“Well?” Benvolio questioned, gesturing to (Name). “Are you ready to go back home?”

Butterflies danced tribally in his stomach as he flickered his gaze from the ocarina to Benvolio. “I don’t know how to play it…”

“It’s easy!” He replied, taking a book out from the back of the workshop and flipping to a page with the fingerings of the ocarina. “See? The fingerings are right here in this book.” Amused eyes watched as (Name) grumbled while tapping his fingers down, sealing the holes and silently playing the notes written on the aged page.

“… This isn’t easy,” (Name) huffed.

“Sure it is! All you have to do is play the notes we have from the old song, and you’ll be on your way home!”

“How do I know I’ll end up where I want to end up?”

“… Well you could always try to just think about it really hard,” Benvolio said with a petite shrug.

(Name) sighed exasperatedly. “Seriously… Do we even have the music notes?” He questioned, being handed a scripture of the sheet music moments later. “Where’d you find this?”

“Oh please, Darling, give me some more credit!”

“Hey, this is that super common song that’s found like everywhere!” Declared Link as he stared at the sheet music. “It’s a famous song—everyone knows it!”

Benvolio deadpanned at the unexpected knowledge the green bean possessed. “That’s… That’s correct…”

“Huh, and here I thought it was gonna be a pain to find.” With a shrug, (Name) found the fingerings that would match the sheet music but paused before actually trying anything. “Didn’t you guys say I need to warp time as well?”

“Oh, right.” (Name) deadpanned at Link’s rebuttal. “Hm… I wonder how we’re gonna do this, then!”

Meanwhile, Benvolio whipped through the pages of the book, hoping to find a lead that would assist them. “Minuet of Forest, Requiem of Spirit, Prelude of Light…” His voice gained a disheartened tone after a grievous sigh left him. “(Name)… I must apologize, but it seems the mystics have no record of anything to do with changing space.”

That single sentence made the young man’s entire world crumble and fall around him. He was so close—he was literally holding the key to his home in his hands, but he lacked a door.

“Hold on,” Anita interjected, a certain fire crackling behind her eyes. “Gimme your shitty little map.”

“Excuse me, I may not be an artist but it’s not a shitty little map,” (Name) growled back, grudgingly handing over the crumpled mess of paper to the cryptic woman. Link handed his own chart over as he was ordered to moments later and both maps found themselves on the table, side by side.

“Look,” She started, pointing to the deserts, “these are the same, right? So this,” She said, gesturing to the old Hyrule’s Castle Town on the crinkled map, “has to be around here.” Finally, Anita’s finger landed on a plot of ocean. “Hyrule’s still here, we just gotta get you to it. Play the song there and you’ll be able to go back in time.”

“I say!” Benvolio applauded Anita, clasping a hand onto her shoulder firmly. “Brilliant! Simply brilliant, Darling! But remember, (Name), the song takes you back in a series of ten. Play it once, ten years; play it ten times, a hundred years. I would suggest playing it several times on a… magic-less ocarina first so the music really engraves itself into your bones! Who knows how long you’re going to be playing it for!”

“Right-o!” Link cheered before yanking on (Name)’s sleeve eagerly. “So do you have any place in mind that you can warp back to?”

“Um…” The mailman hummed under his breath. Where’s a place that’s guaranteed to be there… Somewhere sacred, somewhere— (E/c) eyes lit up. “The Temple of Time.”

“The Temple of Time… Oh, oh, the place where I got the master sword! I know where that is, I can take you there!” Cerulean eyes buzzed in eagerness as Link nearly vibrated in anticipation. It was kind of worrying, actually. “We can set sail right now!”

“Take this with you,” Benvolio sang, rolling the musical score up and tying a red string around it before handing it off to the (h/c)-haired youth. The black velvet that blanketed the ocarina was replaced with bountiful amounts of soft linens and a sturdy case that would protect it in cases of being dropped or tossed around during the ride. A second Ocarina was brought out as well. It was pale blue in colour, almost representing the colour of the clear skies. Two feathers were tied around the neck of the instrument: one crimson red, one earl grey. Softly, he touched the weightless feathers and felt an odd sense of familiarity rush through him. It seemed as if the red feather bursted with sort of riveting excitement, bundled into ever little fibre of every tiny tendril of the feather while, on the other hand, the grey feather emitted a calm, collected breath that contrasted beautifully with the coupled red.

“You alright there, Kiddo?” Anita questioned, raising a brow in speculation.

“I’m… Fine, I’m fine. Just… This looks kind of old, are you sure you want me to take it?” (Name) asked, eyes filled to the brim with hesitance.

“You’re correct about one thing—It’s a very old artifact, one that I hold dear to my heart! Alas, what I have learned from my young days is you must give your heart away so it will reach new heights, see new sights! I trust, my friend, you will satisfy the heart’s desires.” A wide, bright smile spread across Benvolio’s face as he pat the young man on the shoulder. “Now, you must go! Return to a time of the past!”

“I’ll be rooting for you, (Name),” The shaman said, a small smile gracing her lips. “I oughta return to windfall, so… Don’t die on the way there, alright? It’ll seriously weigh on my conscious.”

A soft laugh escaped the mailman as he packed both ocarinas and clung to the music tightly. “Yeah, yeah… Thanks for everything, Anita. I’ll make Link tell you how it went.”

“Aye-aye, sir!” A salute followed the young knight’s words. “Come on, let’s get going. It’ll take a few days to get there, so we gotta get going,” Link chirped before running out.

A sigh left (Name). “Man, I am not gonna miss him…” A soft chorus of laughter followed his sarcastic statement.

Eventually, (Name) worked up the courage, and took a step towards the past he longed for.