A Hero's Spirit

A Moon of Blood and Malice

A/N: Welcome back! I've been super motivated with this story lately, if you couldn't tell by the 9k word chapter I've got for you today. I meant for the chapter after this one to be about Kass, but Revali did a dumb and they're stuck at Zora's Domain for a little longer. *laughs* On the other hand, that does mean you get some Sidon for another chapter after this. HOPEFULLY the chapter after that will allow Link and the gang to leave the Domain, because I only wanted them here for one chapter, not FOUR. *cries*

Well, I'm sure you guys aren't complaining, especially since we get a lot of bonding between Link and the Champions. Big thank you to my two betas, Byrony and Sylph! You two are amazing at catching all my errors and helping things read smoothly. :3

I've also started delving into the culture and traditions of the races in BotW. I have a oneshot posted about one of the Rito's traditions called the Ceremony of Winds. I'd recommend reading it, as I'll likely make small references to the ceremony itself here and there in this story. Yes, I know that one has a MCD (Teba), but the concentration is on the ceremony rather than who was lost. It has a happy ending, I promise. :)

Tentative Update Schedule: (very tentative because as soon as I call it a schedule, things just seem to stop flowing)

Monday: A Hero's Spirit

Tuesday: A Flickering Light

Wednesday: Alone We Fight

Link awoke the next morning to Revali's irritated shouting. "No! Get out! He'll come to you when he's ready, damnit!" Which inevitably drew Link's attention to the seventeen other ghosts that were in his room. He yelped a bit as he tumbled from the Hylian bed that the Zora had in their inn, drawing the attention of both the ghosts and the innkeeper.

"You okay, there, Link?" The innkeeper asked, and he just nodded, face going red. "Ah. Is there someone here?"

Right. Dorephan had informed the other Zora about his ability. "Y-yeah. Like, a dozen someones."

Mipha looked a tad cross, which was likely why he hadn't awoken to several ghosts leaning over him . He honestly wasn't sure if he would've been able to keep himself from attacking if that had been the case. Thus far, Echo and—oddly enough—Daruk were the only ones who could wake him up without meeting the business end of his fist.

"You can see us, right?" One of the younger ghosts, a Zora who looked no older than twelve , was looking at him with hopeful eyes. "You really can, can't you?"

The ghosts all shifted as they awaited his answer. He gave her a smile and nodded, gently patting her head on some old brotherly instinct that'd never been fully erased. She looked up at him with awe, hand latching onto his wrist just as Sidon's had the night before. "You can... you can touch us!"

"But I thought only ghosts could touch..." An older Zora's eyes widened as he realized what this meant. "Sonny... are you... are you dead?"

Link looked at the wizened ghost and nodded. "Yeah."

The innkeeper was watching him with wide eyes. He was sure she could only see and hear half the conversation, but the fact that she knew he was talking to spirits made him more than a little self-conscious.

"I see." The ghost nodded. "My name is Thames. That innkeeper there is my daughter. If you could, could you pass on my message?"

The other ghosts respectfully stepped aside so Link and Thames could properly speak. "Okay." He looked at the innkeeper, feeling more than a little awkward. "I have someone here who wants me to pass on a message to you. He says his name is Thames."