New Home - BotW Link x Reader (Undergoing Revisions)

Chapter 31

Author's Note: this chapter is crazy af (just a warning)

The woman sobbed into your shoulder and you rubbed her back consolingly. Link had yet to give you and Myra an account of what happened, even though you were sure that you already knew what happened. The woman apparently figured it out too. 

Myra was clutching her husband's ring and holding it to her chest. Link was looking at the fire, arms crossed around his chest and eyebrows furrowed with guilt. And there you were, sitting on the ground next to this stranger, trying to make her feel better.

More than anything, you wanted to go console Link, because you knew that look in his eyes. You didn't see it often, but it pained you to see it. You longed to leave Myra's side and help Link, but you couldn't very well abandon her while she cried on you. She very clearly needed support and while you knew the pain Link was in right now, for having watched someone die, this young woman had just lost her husband.

Finally, the sobbing stopped. This took both you and Link by surprise, considering the look Link sent her way. The two of you waited anxiously for her next move. Even the fire seemed to quiet down to hear her. If a pin dropped off in Hyrule Castle right now, you'd have been able to hear it. She lifted her head slowly. Your hands came to your side again and she stood, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. You stood up quickly, steadying her, but she brushed your help off.

Not wanting to argue, you let her stand on her own. She was looking intently at Link and there was still that odd look of desperation in her eyes. "What happened?" Despite having listened to closely for them, you nearly missed her words. Link started, his eyes telling you that above all else he didn't want to recount what had happened earlier. "What happened," she demanded again, her voice dark now. Her grief was replaced by anger and you stepped closer to Link in a mild form of defense for him.

"I...I did my best, miss..." Link began. He didn't get much farther than that explanation before she cut him off.

"What happened?" This third time she said it was steeped in the madness of grief.

Link swallowed thickly and licked his lips tentatively before answering. Summoning his courage and steeling himself, he met her eyes. "Before I could get to him, more of the monsters had appeared. Those ones are strong enough on their own, so you could imagine the danger we were in. As soon as I reached the clearing into which they had him, one had hit him on the head with its club. By the time I took care of the monsters, he..." Link closed his eyes and took a breath before opening them again. "He was dead by the time the last monster fell."

"Why couldn't you just grab him and run?" The woman snapped. You stayed quiet. You didn't like how this woman was treating Link, but knew what it was fueled by and knew the easiest way to get it out of her system was to just let it happen.

"They had arrows, miss. They were lit with fire and they were coming at me from all directions...I couldn't make it to him without burning alive. I had to kill them first."

As the woman looked down at the ring in her hand, you looked at Link. He was tired, that was the first thing you noticed. Not necessarily being shown in his physical features, you could see the tired look in his eyes. You then saw dried blood on his tunic and some streaking down his neck, and a small gash on his neck as well, not yet clotted. Parts of his skin were blackened and charred and his hair was full of twigs and dirt.

You stepped closer to him, gently lowering the neck of his tunic so you could see the gash better. Noticing a longer cut going down under his tunic towards his shoulder, you winced and went to your bag to get what you needed to fix him up.