Finding the Fang and Bone
!Link Link's Home

Y/N has told me something monumental.

Something that has changed the course of the hunt for the missing mask. I should be happy for this new lead, and yet I can't help but hope it's a misunderstanding.

When Kilton was being brutally tortured by those thugs, he told her of a terrible evil that was about to strike Hyrule.

This coincides with the timing of the power outage; the mask being discovered missing, AND the advent of the blood moon's continuous cycle.

But Kilton? I'd never suspect Kilton, of all people, to commit a crime of this caliber. It pains me to admit that he does deal with masks as part of his profession, making him not too farfetched as a lead. But Kilton was nothing more than accommodating during my journey.

So, the next leg of the journey is quite simple. We must traverse all areas of Hyrule where the Fang and Bone operates. If we are not fortunate enough to encounter him, then I must enlist the help of the champions.

I should only hope the moon does not quench its thirst for blood with the emergence of brutish fiends feasting upon Hyrule once more.

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"A great evil is about to befall Hyrule." The man named Kilton held your wrist while a faint stench of iron wafted into your nose from his breath. It was so repugnant; you turned your head in response to it. "Run or you'll be decimated with the rest."

You tried to pull your wrist away. His grip only seemed to tighten the harder you attempted to yank yourself free. Link appeared, wearing an unfamiliar outfit. He had on a long, hand-stitched green hat, that stowed away the short, thick hairs of his ponytail. His verdant tunic was layered atop a bone-white gambeson, a type of garment you recognized from another time period. His tunic was cinched at his waist with a course leather belt. You managed to capture a glance at his face, which also managed to be slightly different from his attire.

Gone were the soft jawline and beleaguered eyes of blue. His eyes were now washed with a temerity you'd never witnessed in them before. His jaw was clutched in concentration. His brow hairs were slightly finer, highlighting the ferocity in his glare. You also noticed his bangs had a middle part; this created the illusion of his face being more open. Expressive. Even his stature seemed to dwarf Link's, as you usually knew it.

He opened his mouth to call out to you, but the words would never reach you.

The firm lips that kept opening and closing with inaudible speech were now pointed and plump. He kept trying to cry out to you, as he fought against his tunic that he was now drowning in. His eyes, which were sharp like the blade of his sword, were now wide-eyed and streaked with panic, like a horse trapped in a barn set ablaze. He stood there, a pint-sized action figure of the once savage warrior who had just made himself known to you.

He shrank into a child? This is the Hero of Time!

"HEY!" He shouted while he kept wildly pointing behind you. You could hear the fear dripping from his voice. You turned back toward Kilton, who, much like the Hero of Time, also underwent a radical transformation.

His two buck teeth were now laced with blood that dripped down his chin. His hollow eyes were ignited with sparks of violent red. The ghastly pale blue of his flesh dwindled into a shade of gray that rivaled arsenic. His face began to flare with pockmarks, pits, and blemishes.

"Let me go!" You began to frantically scream. You started to tug harder and harder. His head began to double in size. You thought it might explode.

You looked back at the Hero of Time. He was on his knees in defeat. He looked at you beneath his lashes, mumbling beneath a sharp breath, "It's the dawn of the final day."

Kilton released a harrowing yell as his head had now tripled in size. The force pushing you down to the ground, crushing the air from your lungs. You heard yourself beginning to choke and realized you were only a few more breaths from death.

You saw tears trickle from the Hero of Time's eyes. "Please!" You coughed as you felt yourself fade away from consciousness.

"Defeat him or perish from the wrath of the moon."

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You woke up with a start. You held your hands above your chest, your breaths escaping in a frenzied rush. You felt your heart fluttering like a bird of prey being stalked by a predator.

You could kind of say the blood moon was your new predator. You looked out of Link's window as it peered back at you mockingly with its infuriating glow.

It was just a nightmare. That's all. Nothing more.

Yes, you were very much alive. And you very much needed to calm down.

You resorted to your infamous anxiety trick and began searching around you for anything to focus your attention on.

For Hylia's sake, this man needs to hire a decorator. You looked around at Link's empty loft in frustration. You settled on your pillow, grabbing it and holding it to your chest. The material was scratchy, forcing you to focus on the prickling sensation of it on your skin.

Your thoughts transitioned over to the Hero of Time. His face was so handsome, so ethereal that, despite it being a dream, it seemed to ground you into a state of calm.

Then you thought of how Link was shorter than his ancient predecessor. This made you giggle to yourself.

With the nightmare fresh on your mind and the rising shame of forgetting to mention Kilton's words to Link, you drifted downstairs to wake the sleeping knight.

The sight of him sprawled on his floor with nothing but a straw mat and pillow made your heart squeeze with guilt. Ever the gentleman Link was, except for the fact he was lying there sound asleep in nothing but a pair of shorts. His arms were tucked behind his head, elevating the view of his toned torso that had tormented you earlier in the day. Only now could you also see dimples carved into the very bottom of his hips, leading to his ...

AHHH! Your mental scream grated against your skull as you whipped a hand across your eyes. You gingerly stabbed a finger into his shoulder. "Link?"

Silence.

You parted two of your fingers as your eyes observed the slight rise and fall of his chest. Then it traveled back down towards his lower abdomen.

This time you gave his shoulder a harder shove with your finger. "LINK?"

Again, silence.

You mashed your teeth together as you removed your hand from your prudish eyes. "LINK?" You yanked his pillow from beneath his head, causing it to fall onto the straw mat with a gentle thump.

In a robotic fashion, Link's upper body rose as his head rotated toward you, eyes half massed. Until he saw your curious eyes staring at him, causing him to jump up and yelp.

You followed suit, hopping up and screaming. Suddenly, you were both yelling.

"Goddesses, Y/N! Whatever is the matter!?"

"I-I ah, um..." You swiftly turned on your ankle so that your back was facing Link. "I had a nightmare, and it reminded me of something important I meant to tell you."

You could hear Link give a gruff sigh from behind you. "Y/N, I can't hear you with your back facing me. Why do you keep doing that?" He put his palms on your shoulders, steadying them beneath his grip, before flipping you to face him.

"Now, let's try this again. What happened? Tell me."

You forced your eyes to stare behind him, though the tactic did little good. Even in your blurry peripheral vision, you could still see his lethal, mostly naked body standing in front of you.

"Wait, why are you dressed?" He assessed you while he held you by the shoulders.

"What do you mean?!"Goddesses, you hadn't even been with Link for a full 24 hours, and you already felt like your heart might give out.

He began to look at his bare chest and back at your sheathed body. You could see faint pink clouds hovering on his cheekbones. "Forgive me; I meant nothing indecent. I meant; you're fully dressed. Didn't you bring sleepwear? Or clothing for the certain climates we may encounter?"

You shook your head, once again feeling foolish. Of course, he didn't mean anything indecent. Your feelings erred more on the side of disappointment than relief. Link released you and walked over to a small dresser hiding in his corner. He handed you a light blue tunic.

The pink clouds hovering on his cheeks were now a ruddy storm throughout his face. "This is my champion tunic. It'll be big on you, but you can sleep in it." He kept his eyes on his feet as he held it out toward you.

"Are you sure?" You managed to conceal the bashfulness you felt in your question.

Link simply nodded. "Now, tell me, what's troubling you?"

Oh, right. That. Goddesses I already almost forgot.

"Link, I had this nightmare. And while the dream isn't important, something that occurred a few days ago is." Your chin was pointed downward in shame. "At the queen's coronation ball, when Kilton was being bullied, he mentioned something to me before he ran off. A great evil was to befall Hyrule, and I should escape before I am decimated with it."

Link sank back down onto his straw mat. He folded his legs Indian style while he rubbed his chin in thought. "Kilton? Kilton said that?" His eyes traveled to the front door of his home, then back to a clock that hung above one of his windows. "Shoot, and it's past 3 a.m."

"Huh?" His mention of the time baffled you.

"Kilton's shop appears here in Hateno and a few other locations across Hyrule between the hours of 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. I was wondering if perhaps I could run out and question him." Link slapped his knees, standing up once again. His forehead wrinkled downward, pushing his eyes together with resolve. He nodded in response to whatever conclusion he had come to in his mind.

"That settles it. We may not be able to get Purah to scope Majora's Mask, but we can get her to scope Kilton's shop. I'll have her and Symin keep their eyes peeled for him here in Hateno. Meanwhile, you and I will hit the locations of his shop until we can catch him and bring him in for questioning."

"Do you really think he stole the mask? Or did he do it on someone's behalf?"

Link let out a raucous yawn. "I should hope not. Kilton helped me a lot during my journey. He may be odd, but inside of him is the heart of a good man." Link walked over to his window, staring above at your nocturnal hunter. "Our biggest worry is right in front of us. That blood moon and whatever fresh hell of monsters it's waiting to unleash."

You opened your mouth to tell Link about the dream. How Kilton's head kept expanding until it was the size of the moon itself. Only Link spoke up again, forcing you to keep your mouth closed. "Tomorrow, we will leave for Lurelin." His lips curled into a gentle line. "It's very scenic; I think you'll enjoy seeing it. We will start with Lurelin and work our way west. It would beseem us to get a few more hours of sleep."

Link walked towards you, his lips faltering between a pout and a scowl. "Y/N, when nighttime hits, I will have you remain at the camp while I hunt for Kilton's shop. I'd rather not expose you to any danger if I can help it."

"No." Your tone came out prissy, and you didn't care. "I'm going with you. You're not going hunting for a man with a haunted mask in the middle of the night alone." You folded your arms, finalizing your commitment. "I'm coming, and that's that."

"I saved Hyrule, do you honestly think I need an aide-de-camp? Besides," his lips shot upward. "What will you do? Call him an asshole, then hit him with a stick?"

You stomped on Link's foot, watching him jump backwards, biting his lip with a wince of pain. "Why don't you throw in my face that you saved me too? You seem to like to do that."

Link held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, Y/N, forgive me. It was a poor joke. For the record, I admire that you jumped to Kilton's aid the way you did. Not many people would have." His voice trickled down to a murmur, "It's expected of me to save everyone. Always. All the time. I don't quite know how to process someone wanting to be there to possibly save me. Again, forgive me."

"Oh, it's alright. I suppose we are all on edge. Good night, Link." You held his shirt up to him. "Thanks for your tunic." You couldn't manage to say it without blushing.

"Sure." As he got back down on his mat, he turned on his side and hollered up to the loft, "Y/N, one more question."

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me about what Kilton said sooner?"

You looked down from his loft. He held his head up with one arm, while the other arm drew little circles on his mat. His biceps were clenched as he began to pick at some of the straw that was loose on it. You felt heat flush through you again as you imagined what it must feel like to be that straw mat right about now.

"I was just distracted. That's all."

He didn't bother to follow up with any more questions. The pleasant sounds of his soft snoring cradled you to sleep. Soon, Link's home was a euphonious rhythm of two tired humans peacefully asleep.

Edited: 7/6/23

***ART WORK BY WRENSTOUT*** They are on Tumblr as well as google, official website is wrenstout.com***

Also- I'm incorporating a lil' history because I love this stuff! I never knew what Link's white high-collared under shirt was called, and apparently it's known as a "Gambeson." They usually were padded for protection during jousts! The chain mail armor you see on Link on TP and SS Link is known as a "Hauberk."

Bring these drips back tho cause they are 🔥 I love learning about wardrobe pieces throughout the centuries 😊