Returning Home (BoTW x Reader)

Chapter Two

Immediately, I start babbling about random nonsense. Link tries to quietly shush me, looking around. I flinch as his hands tightly grip my shoulders, willing my mouth to shut. My mind races as I take in his touch- his very real touch.

I open my mouth to start talking again, but stop myself quickly. How far along is he on, essentially, the prologue of the game? Does he have all his runes yet? Has he even talked to the old man?

I sigh, shaking my head clear of the questions. Link has been starting at me the entire time, and I quickly avert my gaze from his intense staring. He softly grabs my hand, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

His hand feels very familiar, as if we've held hands before. But that's impossible, he's only a game character. Link pulls me along to wherever he's walking. I find myself observing the surrounding area, taking in the details. Despite how good the in-game graphics are, the in-game graphics are even better.

I chuckle quietly at my own joke before stumbling along to catch up to Link. I hadn't realized I had stopped.

We pull closer to the large temple, and I realize he must have already gathered the spirit orbs from all the shrines. Quickly, he scales the ladder on the far left, and I hastily follow.

I admit I nearly fell down the large hole in the roof, had it not been for Link grabbing my arm and pulling me away. I really had to thank him, but he only continued walking to the raised point where he would meet the King.

I debate if I should allow Link to talk to him alone, or if I should climb up after him. I decide on the latter, peeking over the edge before clambering up the small ladder.

The King had already begun to tell Link of his story, but stopped when he saw me. He looked shocked, almost as if he had seen a ghost. I would have chuckled had it been at an appropriate time; he's a ghost.

Link looked back at me before looking at the King again, a questioning look on his face. Will he ever talk? I'm unsure.

I awkwardly shift under the King's unwavering gaze. It's starting to get weird. He floats closer to me, and I consider just dropping back down to remove the attention from me.

"Dear, you're back. H-how is it you are still alive?" I open my mouth to ask him a question right back, but words can't seem to form. My eyebrows are furrowed, and I can tell I look confused. Seriously, first the Champion Gang, now the King?

I only shrug and shake my head. My mouth feels incredibly dry, and it's only painful to swallow down saliva to try and wet it again.

"Nevermind that, then. Allow me to continue telling Link of what had happened. As I was saying-"

So started his explanation of Calamity Ganon, and what had happened to Hyrule in the time being. Before the King leaves, he gives Link his paraglider as promised, before turning to me.

"I had been holding onto this for a while. I had been trusted with it by the Shiekah, they knew you would return to us one day." He pulled another paraglider from the inside of his robes, handing it to me. I opened it to look at the design, a simple black cloth with the Triforce printed on.

I smile at the King, bowing my head. "Thank you."

He nods before clearing his throat, bidding us goodbye and disappearing. Quickly, I jump from one of the windows and open the Paraglider, easily gliding down to the grassy surroundings.

Link looks over hesitantly, before climbing back over to the ladder perched on the wall and sliding down it. He walks closer to my grinning form, and he shakes his head.

"That was pretty reckless. You could have hurt yourself." He worries. I go to respond before realizing it had been the first time I heard his voice. My eyes widen, and my mouth dries again. My heart clenches, and I hold back a squeal.

It was rough, no doubt from lack of use. Given, he hasn't been awake for damn near 100 years, he wouldn't have been able to talk anyways. I wonder if the other characters sound like they do in the game, given the fact they are voiced by real people.

"Well, you'll have to paraglide down from the edge to get to the rest of Hyrule. Unless you prefer ending up as a large splatter of blood and guts on the grass. Great practice." I smirk, a cocky aura surrounding me.

He sighs and shrugs, silently agreeing. I grin before walking to said edge, the one closest to the direction of Kakariko Village. Link follows behind me, pulling his paraglider out and jumping off with it raised above his head.

I pull mine out as well, but don't open it yet. I jump after Link, immediately plummeting down towards the ground. Just past halfway, I open the paraglider. My heart is beating wildly in my chest, and I become aware of the adrenaline coursing through my veins due to my action.

Despite knowing I would have been able to save myself, the fear won over the excitement and caused me to pull it out earlier than I had wanted. I don't bother to close it again, though, and instead, lazily float to the ground.

I look up at Link, seeing him already staring at me. I smile and wave up at him, waiting for him to touch ground.

"You don't think things through very often, do you?" Link asked as he secured his paraglider to his back. I shrug, walking in the direction of the village.

"I do, most of the time. Maybe I'm just willing to risk more things than you." I grin at Link, shoving my hands in my pockets. It's only then, I realize I'm not wearing the clothes I had been wearing when I was at home. I'm wearing a light blue, terribly ripped shirt, similar to Link's Champion Tunic, minus the white details, and ripped black pants. My feet are covered in a dark brown boot made of some kind of animal hide, one I don't know. Probably cow.

It wasn't much, and I figured I should probably buy new clothes once we get to Kakariko. It's only then, I realize I don't have any Rupees. Or is that something else I hadn't realized?

I feel around in my pockets further, eyebrows borrowing as I pull out a smooth object. It's the size of my hand, and I find myself curiously poking at it. I flip it over, and it had a similar design to the rest of the Shiekah technology.

Link looks over in curiosity, gasping as he pulls it from my hands. He looks it over, pressing a button on the side, which turns the screen on. I realize it's a Shiekah Slate, only smaller.

"I didn't realize you have one, too." He muttered. I accept it as he hands it back and start to fiddle with it.

"I didn't know I had it either. It was in my pocket." I look over the map, it was entirely filled out, as if we had already managed to activate all of the towers.

I found it odd none of the warp points were viewable, but shrugged it off. I'm sure it was meant to be like this. I shove it back in my pocket, keeping it safe for now.

"Well, let's not dally any longer, we have a village to visit, and it's bound to take a day on foot."

A/n
ALRIGHT GAMERS. So school starts tomorrow, and I'm kinda nervous! I'm going into Grade 10, and my girlfriend is going to a different school this year (not really a different school perse, it's a different building we call the 'Career High' so she will still have Band in my school but do her classes in a different building across town.)
On top of that, one of my Minecraft dogs just died today. Not epic.
Anyways, hope you guys have a good week and enjoyed this chapter! It wasn't as high a quality as the last one, but what can I do but stew over it for weeks? Nothing, so enjoy.