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Chapter Text

Link twisted out the way of another spear thrust, the thrum of the extended weapon cutting too close for comfort.

He wheeled around and took a slash at the Blight's extended arm, taking delight in the way it finally severed.

The Blight screamed. 

Music to his ears.

He grinned ferally as the Knight's Broadsword in his hand disappeared into whisps of blue light, quickly replaced with something of greater reach.

A Zora spear. It seemed fitting.

The Blight fled back, hovering over the water, using it's one good hand to try to conjure more ice magic in a desperate bid to defend itself.

Link didn't give it the chance.

Quick as a flash, he loosed an arrow into it's eye, hitting it directly. The Blight roared as it fell once more onto another platform, which Link quickly pressed the advantage. He leaped across the gap readying the spear downward before he gave a firm thrust into the demon's neck. It's roars suddenly sounded so much more choked.

Malice began bleeding out of the beast, and Link had to retreat before he got caught in the splash. The substance poured in thick spurts as the Blight screamed in torment as whatever magic sustaining it's existence came undone.

Until finally, with a blinding flash, the beast disappeared entirely.

The malice covering the internal workings of Vah Ruta began to clean, dissipating into strands as Ganon's presence in the Divine Beast was wiped away, purged by the Blight's death.

He picked his spear from where it lay on the now dry floor, clutching it between his hands before it dissipated into blue light. 

It was done.

Ruta was finally free.

Link took a deep breath to steady himself as the wear of the battle caught up to him. His entire forme ached like no tomorrow, and the gash from where the Blight had nearly run him through on his side was bleeding slightly. 

But this was no place to treat his wounds, so he turned to the control console in the center of the room. He absorbed the heart container as he passed by, allowing the warmth to flood through him as the wound closed. He might not be physically injured anymore, but he was still going to sleep for 14 hours when he got back to the domain.

He approached the console and, after suspiciously examining it a final time, cautiously placed his Sheikah Slate on the stone.

He allowed himself to relax when the stone flashed blue, with the red of Ganon's corruption returning to it's rightful state.

Inexplicably, he felt something slot into place in his mind. It wasn't unpleasant, just a passive weight that wasn't present before. Though he had time to examine that newfound addition later, his hair rose on end when he realized he had company.

He pivoted on his heels, to see a Zora woman with crimson scales identical to Sidon's standing before him. She had a translucence to her he'd only seen once before, and that was on the ghost king back on the plateau. Even without all the context clues, he knew who it was. He'd seen her face in the statue, and in the singular memory he had of her.

Mipha

"Hello Link." She said serenely, a soft smile on her face, the same as it was those hundreds of years ago. "Thank you for freeing me, and Ruta as well." 

Link simply bowed. "'It was my pleasure.'" He parroted, with a sad smile on his face. The rage he'd felt dissipating as he looked back into her soft amber eyes.

She simply giggled into her hand, before straightening as her eyes gained a form of fierce determination. "As I am a spirit, my healing powers would be wasted on me. Therefore... I would like you to have it, Link." She spoke, clasping her hands together as a blue glow surrounded them, before they pushed forward and a ball of energy impacted his chest. 

The weight in his mind grew more pronounced as he felt the new magic soak into his blood. 

"Now allow me to-" She raised an arm, before a confused expression overtook her face. 

Link almost didn't see it, too focused on the presence he just detected growing in number. He didn't know how, but a monster hoard was on it's way. He had exact numbers, 21 green Lizalfos, 11 blue and even a few silver were advancing on the domain. They were already engaging some guards as the Zora scrambled to mobilize. There were 2 red mane lynels in the center of the pack, surrounded by 4 black moblins each. 

This wasn't a regular horde, this was Ganon's welcoming party.

The Zora wouldn't be able to hold.

The rainstorm had greatly reduced the Zora in this region, most having either fled Hyrule altogether or dying to the many perils it contained. 

There weren't enough Zora in the entire kingdom to repel this force. Hell, it was doubtful that even if every Hylian left joined in if they would return victorious.

He had to do something. He had to help!

Something welled up inside him, the presence in his mind pushing it’s way to the front as he attuned to the feeling.

He moved on instinct, raising an arm as something within his soul connected to something new. He pushed.

Instantly, something happened and he was jogged from his trance. Power gathered along the Divine Beasts core and Vah Ruta pulsed. With a deafening cry, an orb of blue energy coalesced in front of the Divine Beast, before releasing in a mighty blast. 

He could see it in his mind's eye, as the energy tore through the center of the pack, leaving patches of dead grass in it's wake.

Zora defenders left stunned as the remaining monsters panicked and began to flee. 

Link's jaw was on the floor. He'd known the Divine Beasts were powerful, but that was incredible. It was an unfathomable amount of power.

He turned to the pilot, giving her a wide grin. "Nice shot Mipha!" He called to the spirit, shooting her a thumbs up. He was honestly just glad the Blight had never figured out how to do that. Zora's Domain would have been a pile of ash by the first minute.

It was only then that he saw her dumbstruck expression as she turned to him.

"Tha- That wasn't me." She whispered, looking at him with wide eyes. "I- I can't feel her anymore. It's just an echo." She seemed almost distraught to realize that last part.

It took a second to realize what she was implying.

"Y- You mean Ruta did that herself?" He asked. He understood the Divine Beasts weren't just war machines, but the idea that they could automatically respond to threats with no input from the pilot was, to be completely honest, terrifying.

But he was confused when she shook her head.

"No, she did not." She murmured. "Link, do you happen to feel... anything in your mind that you didn't prior to defeating WaterBlight? A... presence?" She asked.

Dumbly, he nodded.

"Simply reach for it, please." She requested.

Almost on autopilot, he did. And he felt something reach back.

He clasped it, and Vah Ruta pulsed. The entire beast seemed to shudder and rumble… affectionately? The presence in his mind definitely felt affectionate.

Mipha sucked in a breath.

"Then... we have more to discuss."

Sidon would be the first to admit, this had been a very odd and terrifying day. Between the low points that made him want to hurl into the river, and the high points that made him question his sanity as his newfound friend pulled off yet another miracle, it was safe to say it was a day he'd never forget.

When he swam into battle with his companion Link, he'd been determined to shut off the rain flow and assist his entry. Together, they easily hit every point on the beast and lowered it's defenses in a minute. 

Then Link had entered the beast, and he'd returned to shore.

Vah Ruta had begun to move then, some parts rotating as it's trunk raised and lowered almost robotically. At one point he'd even seen Link clambering along the outside of it.

He'd nearly had a heart attack when Link took one hand off the wall he was gripping to give him a friendly wave.

He'd disappeared inside and suddenly, Vah Ruta began flashing.

He'd only seen it once before, as a child. At the time, he hadn't realized it had been his sister battling for her life inside the mechanical weapon. 

But he knew better now. It flashed Blue and Red, flickering between the colors as the two forces clashed inside the Beast. 

There was a terrifying moment when Vah Ruta seemed to die, neither Blue or Red running along it's lights. At first, he'd thought they may have killed one another.

He felt the tension in his chest relax when the Divine Beast lit up a brilliant blue, letting out a triumphant roar as whisps of a dark purple substance vacated from every opening.

Of course, that victory had been short lived when he heard a monster horn. 

He'd run as fast as he could, gathering guards as he went to meet the most terrifying sight he'd ever witnessed.

It was an organized group of monsters. They were in formation, with Lynals and Moblins making a mockery of a generals and their royal guards. Lizalfos archers and swordsmen advanced in front as they approached the domain. 

The two forces clashed as he skewered a lizalfos with his tridant, ducking a slash from a new foe as he and the other Zora warriors engaged.

They were heavily outnumbered, but they would be enough. They had to be.

It was then that he heard a mighty sound from behind him. He barely had time to blink before blue consumed his vison. 

The monsters didn't even scream as the blast consumed them, and when the energy died down there was nothing of their foes but a hole in the rock.

Turning, he saw Vah Ruta, pointed towards them with it's head held high.

One of the warriors, he couldn't tell who, let out a quiet "What the fuck?" And he couldn't even raise the will to reprimand their language.

Because he felt much the same way.

Vah Ruta had seemingly fallen back into inactivity, so with a heavy amount of confusion about the situation, he called for his men to return home.

Bazz swiftly approached to walk beside him, looking around to see most of the other Zora in a form of shock before whispering "What the fuck just happened!?" 

He turned to him and just shrugged. "I think... we won?" He tried.

It was true, they hadn't lost a single man. For all intents and purposes, they won.

He knew that wasn't what he meant though, and he turned his gaze towards the imposing structure still gazing at the same point in the battlefield they were currently exiting.

He hoped this was a good sign, that this meant they were done with dealing with the problems cause by Vah Ruta. That they could finally sleep with the knowledge they wouldn't be flooded at any given moment.

Still, he anticipated Vah Ruta falling silent. Maybe taking stance somewhere and serving as a monument for what their people survived. He wasn't counting on the war machine becoming operational.

In fact, he'd all but prayed it would never come to pass that Ruta would ever be used as the weapon of mass destruction it could be.

History showed that power always made it's way into the hands of the corrupt after all.

Regardless, it was an hour later when Vah Ruta stirred once more. It began to turn.

In the direction of the domain.

Immediately, panic took hold as the Zora rushed to militarize. The thunderous footfalls of the beast echoed as they prepared for a suicidal last charge. 

The emergency shock weapons they wielded could very well kill the Zora fighting with them, but they all knew they would have to make the sacrifice to shut it down if the need arose.

Vah Ruta pulsed blue as the trunk lowered, much more organically than Sidon had seen before. And standing on the tip, still clad in his Zora armor, was Link.

The trunk lowered into the water by the dam, and Link stepped off onto dry land with a fierce grin in place.

He waved to them cheerfully as the guard lowered their weapons in confusion. 

Sidon inhaled a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

He walked up to link and gave him his best grin, loudly proclaiming "Link! My friend! You have returned!" In the strongest voice he could muster.

Link just sheepishly rubbed his neck, smiling back at him proudly.

"We owe you a great deal my friend! But first, I am interested to know the story of... well that." He said, indicating the Divine Beast.

"Oh!" Link spoke. "Since I activated the terminals and freed her, Ruta deemed me worthy to pilot her! She's very sweet, and also very sorry for what she was forced to do."

"It's... alive?" Sidon questioned, mind whirring.

"She's somewhat conscious. It's a kind of soul tech that gives something for the pilot to interface with. The personality is a biproduct of that tech. She's not really alive, but she's kinda like the soul that makes everything work." Link explained.

"And it trusts you?"

"She trusts the fact that I want Ganon dead, and she want's in." Link said calmly.

Sidon couldn't shake the feeling that this would have some form of consequence. Good or bad, he couldn't tell.

Still, if the power the Divine Beast held could have gone to anyone, the legendary hero would probably be a good choice to ensure it's used for good.

After all, Ruta sounded quite pleasant. And Link would never use this type of power to cause chaos, right?

Oh Goddess, did he sound like Muzu!?

"Well, that's a story best elaborated on over dinner! Come, we have much to celebrate!" He laughed, pulling his friend into a close hug.

It would be fine.

Probably.

Chapter Text

Link was feeling like a kid on their birthday, though he tried not to let it show.

Even through the distance between them, he could still feel Ruta's... consciousness? Soul? He could still feel Ruta, is the point. She was ever present, even when she wasn't sending anything he could still feel her, awaiting a new directive or to interface with his own soul.

it wasn't unpleasant, he was just aware of something he wasn't before.

He tried not to let his new curiosity show as he enjoyed the festivities with the Zora. A wide spread of fish and other delicacies had been arranged on a long table, with him being declared the hero of the day. If they were uncomfortable with the new friend at his beck and call, most did a good job hiding it.

Key word being most.

Some couldn't hide their stunned expressions when they looked at him, or when their gaze was caught on Ruta's imposing form still perched by the dam.

He himself was still overwhelmed by the new situation. He was elated to have such a valuable asset in his control, and, as sad as it was, he was somewhat happy he'd have a companion on his travels. However limited the conversation may be.

Though, he couldn't imagine himself taking Ruta across Hyrule. The mass panic it would cause wouldn't compare to the damage that would occur simply by Ruta walking. Especially through a forest. 

Actually... he was losing more than a few swords to just chopping down trees. Maybe it'd be more efficient.

And there were so many unknowns, too. Mipha had taught him what she knew, but even that had it's gaps. After all, she'd never taken Ruta further than the wetlands. He knew how to work the weapons, and how to make it submerse. But the finer details like, how far does the mental connection reach? Will guardians attack them? Can I command Ruta from a distance? All those were left unanswered. And he loved a good puzzle. There was a reason he had so many korok seeds.

Of course, there was a way to get his answers.

And they lay in a certain mechanical elephant. 

He laughed along with a joke told by a nervous Sidon, who kept looking between him and Ruta with poorly concealed concern. Why was he concerned? He'd only ever seen how capable he was!

Granted, he had witnessed him fight a Lynal with a wooden stick, win, and then promptly get hit by an Octorock and fall off a cliff not even a day ago. So maybe his concern was well placed. 

But while the focus was off him for the moment, he carefully reached out to Ruta. Feeling something connect as he found emotions not his own run through his mind.

"Can you hear me?" He thought, trying to send it through the connection. It was difficult, considering he'd never done it before. Was that how telepathy worked? Or was it just you think and they hear.

He was cut from his internal ramblings by a pulse of affirmation and amusement from Ruta. It seemed she heard his every thought when they were connected. That was interesting.

"Link my friend! Please, tell us the tale of what you battled!" Sidon's boisterous voice pulled him from his thoughts. "It must have been quite the spectacle, the entire beast was pulsing!"

He could see the curiosity on his friends face, and he imagined the light show must have been quite pretty from the outside.

Link smiled, and began an exaggerated tale of how the Blight had emerged from the depths of the Divine Beast, and how the thing had nearly skewered him before he took of it's hand. 

There were several oohs and ahhs as he gave his story of the battle, all the while Ruta pulsed with growing amusement.

Wait.

Was she giggling with him!? She could do that!?

His smile grew more real as he continued the story, feeling the pulse of amusement as he tried to entertain Ruta as much as the Zora in front of him.

Even without hearing it, he could tell. She had a nice laugh.

It was late into the night when the party finally came to a close. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so he decided to just cut out the middleman and head straight to Vah Ruta. She was exactly where he left her, so he jumped from the dock and back onto the tip of the trunk. 

Ruta's presence in his mind grew when he came into contact with the ancient stone, a wave of affection to welcome him back.

That was nice of her.

With a mental pulse, the trunk began to raise again, bringing him level with the opening once more. 

He paced along the length and stepped inside, clambering along the interior to make it to the control room once more.

The Divine Beast somehow felt different than it was when he first entered. Maybe it was the lack of malice choking the air, or the fact that he was no longer an intruder, but it felt welcoming. It felt like home, somehow.

"Hey, Ruta." Link murmured, lifting a hand to rub the wall like you'd pet a dog. 

He felt a touch silly, but when Ruta pulsed back with warmth and love, he somehow knew she could feel it.

"So, I guess I'll start." Link said, turning around and sliding down the wall, resting his head against the stone.

"I doubt I'll be able to take you anywhere, unless you think you could avoid flattening a forest." He informed the machine, wincing at the pulse of indignation.

"I'm not calling you fat!" He rushed. "But you are about the size of the entire domain! How am I even meant to get you out of Lanayru? You can't fit through the valley!"

An image of the hillside flashed in his mind's eyes.

"There is no way you can climb up a hill without leaving giant craters with every step." He denied.

Somehow, he could feel a challenge being raised by the Divine Beast. 

"You know what, I'm actually interested. If you actually think you won't cause an earthquake by leaving your pond, then go ahead. Just remember, everything you damage is something I'll be in trouble for." He snarked.

It was then that he realized he was snarking a giant robot elephant. 

He was so wrong back on the plateau, this journey can get weirder.

He felt a touch of worry from Ruta and immediately felt bad. At the end of the day, she only wanted to help her pilot. Which he couldn't really fault her for. And she wanted to help take down Ganon and get revenge for the century of torture she endured. Which he also couldn't fault her for.

Before he could talk though, he felt Ruta pulling in a certain direction. Trying to urge him to the other side of the lake. Sighing, he raised an arm and obliged, the machine responding to him and turning to face the hillside.

He slid a foot forward, and Ruta began to move towards the it's target.

"You gonna tell me the plan or keep me in the dark?" He asked aloud, getting nothing but a sense of determination and anticipation from his new friend. Which was concerning to say the least.

He could see clearly in his mind's eye as Ruta approached the hill, they were about to breach the water and step onto land when Ruta suddenly called out a pulse of warning, and he immediately slowed her to a stop.

He followed her lead, simply curious to see how she'd approach the problem as he brought the front leg of the elephant up and, at Ruta's will, slammed it into the ground with as much force as she could muster.

He raised the same foot back into the air and gaped.

No damage.

Ruta's smugness was all consuming.

She had shock absorbent feet.

He let a feral smile grow on his face, a type of energy Ruta returned.

That. Changed. Everything.

"Well Ruta, whaddaya say we go monster hunting?" He asked, giving her a fond pat.

Her eager acceptance made his grin somehow go wider. 

He'd definitely found a kindred spirit.

Link and Ruta both let out laughs as the ice canons fired over and over again, flash freezing another camp of Lizalfos before they could even wake.

Another Lynal in the hilltops took aim and fired another trio of shock arrows and sent a few flashes of pain through Ruta.

Link winced at the second hand wound and swiftly locked on, firing another salvo of ice into the monsters face. It disappeared into a cloud of icy malice.

He loved how easy it was to blow everything away. Practically nothing could stand against him and Ruta as they patrolled Lanayru in the dark of night.

Obviously, the joy came from eradicating the filth of monsters. No other reason.

It was amazing how something so large could hide so well, the monsters hardly ever saw them before they were standing over them. And he was beginning to think Vah Ruta had some kind of stealth tech. 

They patrolled around the mountainous terrain for two hours before the night of no sleep started to catch up with him.

He guided Vah Ruta back to the domain and clenched his hand. As one, every entrance in the Divine Beast sealed as they began to submerge. He rested against the wall, listening to Ruta rumbling softly. His eyes felt heavier then they'd ever been before.

Maybe it was the knowledge that he couldn't be safer than inside Vah Ruta, or the comfort she emitted to Link as he drifted off, but he found it trivially easy to fall asleep.

His last thought was that he should probably bring a bed into Vah Ruta, because there was no way he was going to wake up without back problems in the morning.

To say Sidon was a touch worried was an understatement.

He'd woken late in the morning to find that Link was gone. As was Vah Ruta. It wasn't difficult to see that they were correlated.

He'd seen Link enter the Divine Beast the night before, but he'd just assumed that he was testing it's capabilities. It made sense, he'd need to know how to maneuvered the machine more aptly if he were to take on the mantle as pilot.

Still, to hear that Link hadn't returned once through the night to rest was concerning, as he was relatively sure Hylians required sleep.

Of course, now his duty was complete, he was under no obligation to remain in the domain. He'd helped them, ended the endless rainstorm, and freed the Divine Beast. Link had other people to help, but still, he at least expected a goodbye.

Still, he hadn't even heard Ruta depart. Surely he wasn't such a heavy sleeper that he missed those thundering footfalls.

He saw blue energy drift from the sky and past Mipha's statue, coalescing into a familiar Hyian at the base of the shrine.

Link seemed to wobble slightly, before walking confidently up the steps to him.

"Hey, so, I wouldn't worry about monsters until the next blood moon." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sidon was definitely confused now. "Why?" Is all he could ask.

It was a question he found himself asking a lot when it came to the Hylian champion.

"Ruta and I, kinda, killed them all..." Link said with a small shrug.

Sidon's jaw dropped.

One day.

He'd had Ruta for one day and he eliminated a monster population.

"Link. How!?" He cried incredulously.

Link just looked like a child who'd been caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

"We were having fun and kinda got carried away..." He murmered.

Goddess help Ganon.

"Sooooo I just wanted to say we're probably gonna head out soon. Do you mind if I take Ruta? I'm heading to Death Mountain." Link stated casually.

Sidon took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"My friend, the Divine Beast will serve only one pilot at a time. I believe I speak for the all the Zora when I say we have no need of it. May Ruta serve well on your journey!" He declared with as much bravado as he could muster.

Link lit up like the sun.

"Cool thanks!" He said, giving him a big hug before calling out "Alright Ruta! Bring me in!" And he dissipated into strands of blue energy.

He only had a moment to wonder where Vah Ruta was before it's titanic shape emerged from the water of the lake, and began making it's way to the cliffside.

It was probably fine.

Chapter Text

Link had departed from the domain at about midday, initially setting a course in the general direction of Death Mountain.

It took all of 5 minutes to nearly trample an entire forest.

Of course, it was only then that Ruta sheepishly pointed out that he could chart a course for her to follow using the map data he had collected so far, then she ever so helpfully projected a giant version of the map in the chamber for him to work with. So he had to trace a few detours before they had their course.

It was incredible how she just forgot to mention that feature. Or maybe she couldn’t. They’re conversations were always more about him speaking and her reacting, so maybe she just couldn’t figure out how to tell him.

Regardless, the journey quickly became a tad boring. He didn't really have the chance to fully take it in during his joyride last night, but Ruta was actually quite slow.

Not momentously so, and the fact that she could keep going even while he rested most certainly made it a more efficient method of travel. But still, witnessing the scenery pass in his mind's eye at a snails pace grew dull rather fast.

Of course, he then began to patrol the Beasts inner workings. He made a stop at each terminal, attempting to feel out what each one was responsible for by an elaborate game of hot and cold with Ruta and whatever image she could project into his mind.

The terminal on the trunk was obviously water control, with the one on the head being optics, targeting, and general ballistics.

The internal ones were trickier, They had less of an easy way to figure out. Though, eventually he landed correctly.

One was the main weapon control, which was responsible for the main cannons and whatever the giant mega laser was.

There was the working terminal that controlled door, and most internal life support.

And there was the defense terminal, which he found interesting for being separate from the main weapons one.

It influenced the barrier that coated Vah Ruta, which made it impossible to get on or damage the beast without shutting down or overloading the 4 cores on top. It also influenced the auto-cryokinesis that was able to manipulate ice to help defend the Vah Ruta.

The blocks that the blight forced Ruta to fire at him were the tip of the ice(haha)berg that this allowed with just a little imagination. 

He was very interested in the Cryokinesis. The ability to simply create projectiles seemed too useful to just ignore.

Sure, it was designed to work on the defensive. But Link didn't particularly care about what something was designed to do, he cared about what it could do. After all, the best defense was a good offense. 

The only problem, was that the terminal’s programming and hardware seemed to be limiting it's capabilities.

He attuned to it with Ruta acting as a medium to see exactly what it did. He could convert water into ice to form any shape, and then propel it in a direction or at a locked target. Only problem was the the ice was locked to move at about 0.5m/s.

Unimaginative. And unhelpful.

But not something that couldn't be edited with a touch of ingenuity.

He felt a twinge of worry from Ruta, and rushed to reassure her.

"Don't worry girl, I won't change anything I can't change back. Besides, I know what I'm doing." He smiled.

And it was true.

He'd gained more than a few memories from being surrounded by Sheikah tech all the time. And the thing people forget is that while Zelda or Purah or another scientist talked about how they found how something functioned, or how their newest discovery worked, he was always in the room. He had to be, in order to stay by the Princess’s side. His role may have been to stand quietly in the corner, but that didn’t remove his ears and the ability to pay attention. He was always too good at disappearing. And they were all too happy to forget he existed.

That, and he had an engineering degree.

Seriously, he has literally no idea how everyone kept forgetting that. And he's the amnesiac talking!

After a few moments of searching, he found his way into the inner workings of the terminal.

"Alright Ruta, tell me if this tickles." He joked, before beginning to search around a few components.

"Keep us on track girl, and tell me if anything happens. Oh! And see what you can find about automated defenders, if I can get even a guardian scout on my side it'll be a game changer." He called to her, getting a pulse of affirmation and mirth from her.

"Alright, let's take a crack at this."

Travius, the old stablemaster of foothill stable had lived a long life of 60 odd years. A miracle, in this day and age.

He’d seen a lot in his youth, every new discovery more absurd than the last.

He’d thought he had figured out everything the world had to offer, or at the very least he wouldn’t be caught off guard by the absurdity of the land in which they lived.

That was until he saw a giant mechanical elephant emerge in the distance.

At first, he’d though his old age had finally caught up to his mind. He’d thought he was senile, seeing things that weren’t there.

It was only when the other stable hands saw it too that he realized he wasn’t crazy just yet.

The giant mechanical wonder had emerged from the lanayru moutains, winding down a path that seemed to carefully avoid the tree lines and ruins, sticking mostly to flat planes.

And it was heading straight for them.

Well, not exactly for them, but it was making a general line towards Death Mountain and they just happened to be near it’s path.

Looking around, he re-examined the large creature that was always crawling over the top of the volcano. If he squinted, and shielded his eyes from the suns glare, he could see that it was of the same kind of material as the elephant. Only it glowed a deep red while the elephant glowed blue.

He wondered what would happen when the two came into contact with one another, and promptly shoved the idea from his mind.

Whatever would happen, was outside of his control. All he could hope, was that his humble stable would be spared the collateral damage.

He leaned on his cane as the elephant pulsed with blue energy, before three chunks ice appeared to form in giant spikes over the top before firing off at Mach speed into the air, only to curve and come crashing down on something.

Humming, and clenching his cane a tad tighter, he walked back to his stable to resume his duty.

There was nothing he could do.

”Fuck yeah!” Link yelled, punching the air in celebration. It had only taken 2 hours, but he’d perfected the defense terminals Cryokinesis. He’d tried to simply rewrite the code locking the speed at which the ice fired, but it would overwork the projection system and nearly collapse the entire terminal, so he got creative.

He’d always found ballistics interesting. Things go up, things go down. By firing them in an arc, his makeshift artillery could get so much more speed on the descent.

The stress test had been a success! He’d locked onto the monster camp, and the artillery had done the rest.

Of course, the terminal had overheated shortly after, but progress was progress!

Next, he’d rewire a few things in the water terminal, and work on getting a coolant flowing to keep the terminal stable. But he’d done well for a first test. It had worked like a charm, nothing broke, and nothing exploded or imploded.

That caused a flash of distress to pulse from Ruta, who likely didn’t know that was an possibility.

”Yeah, well, you can judge when you figure out the automated guardians.” He said smugly, feeling the indignation in the Divine Beast rise. She hadn’t even found a lead at how they could get defensees similar to the ones he had to fight to free her running, while he had been largely successful.

Safe to say she was a little salty.

He just gave a grin as he rested in what he’d dubbed the sleeping alcove. It was one of the areas that remained perfectly dry regardless of the water flow in the Divine Beast.

He’d brought a sleeping bag and padding, but he hadn’t yet found a bed he was allowed to take.

Of course, the Old Man’s bed on the plateau was an option, but there was a limit to how far Ruta could translocate things and it would be a significant detour to take for just a bed, so the sleeping bag would do for now.

So for now, he rested his eyes. Ready for a new day, and a new challenge tomorrow.

All the while Ruta rumbled around him, drifting him off to sleep.

Daruk could hardly believe his eyes.

It honestly didn’t seem real.

He felt Vah Ruta shake the corruption of Ganon several days ago, and that it had remained active despite that, but he never expected what he saw right now.

Vah Ruta was making it’s way toward Rudania. With the little guy at the helm!

He tried to help him out the best he could. He couldn’t do much in his spirit form, but he could obscure Rudania’s sensors to a point, as he was doing now. He couldn’t let the blasted Blight know what was coming.

He didn’t even know how Fireblight would react to Divine Beast combat, but he had a feeling the results would destroy both Divine Beasts. So he didn’t let them see it.

Rudania had always been impulsive, and in it’s corrupted state it wouldn’t hesitate to fire all canons.

He’d always been there to calm them down, but all the Blight did was rile them up.

Still, it was amazing. He never thought the day would come where he’d access the registry of the Divine Beast, and see his little buddy as the pilot!

Mipha’s spirit was still present, but without being needed to pilot she was probably sleeping, awaiting the time where she was needed.

He grinned as Ruta kept pace.

The little guy was coming for him, and Rudania.

And he couldn’t wait to help kick Ganon’s teeth in.

Chapter Text

Link was just finishing the final mag lock on the new terminal cooling system (Eat your heart out, ancient Shiekah monks!) when Ruta called out a pulse of alert.

They were nearly there.

He grinned, and with a mental pulse he dissipated into blue strands that raced through the Divine Beast. A much more efficient way to travel than the excessive parkour.

Reforming in the main control room, he peered through his minds eyes at their target.

Vah Rudania.

Dripping with Malice as it clambered around the top of Death Mountain, Link felt a deep well of disgust and righteous anger well up from within Ruta.

She wanted nothing more than to purge her kin of that horrid filth and free them from the calamities puppet strings, but he held firm. They couldn't open fire with causing a landslide that could kill every inhabitant of the mountain.

And they were at a disadvantage. Not only did Rudania have the high ground, but they held the home turf.

The ice cannons and Cryokinesis would be rendered ineffective in the sweltering heat of Death Mountain, while Rudania's own attacks would only be strengthened.

There was no way to lead them off the mountain, so unfortunately fighting head-on would be a poor tactical choice. 

Shame.

He disengaged Ruta after taking manual control, and guided her to behind some cliff face to shield her from view.

He wasn't particularly sure how Rudania hadn't seen them on the approach, but he was grateful. He wasn't about to go test how close he could get without a reaction though. 

Scanning the terrain, he noticed a stable nearby and locked it's position. 

"Alright Ruta, while I'm gone, don't kill any Hylians or other kinds of people if they try and board you." He instructed, feeling her almost pout at him for limiting her. Crazy girl. "You can exterminate any monsters that get close by all means, but just lightly, and I mean lightly discourage anyone else from trying their luck. If all else fails just shield flash them and knock them on their ass."

He could tell Ruta wasn't happy, but she'd have to suck it up.

They had been made to be fiercely loyal to their pilots, to the point where if anyone short of another champion tried to board them they'll kick and fight until they remove themselves or are removed by force. It was just another layer of torment the Blights added, being boarded and piloted by something that wasn't their pilot and being unable to stop them.

It was completely understandable from a design point of view, a security point of view, and from the point of view of the Divine Beasts.

But their detachment and durability usually left a lot to be desired on what is considered excessive force to utilize in the removal of a trespasser.

Ruta seemed to grumble, before materializing some experimental type of arrows into his hand. 

"What are these for?" He asked, before an image flashed through his mind. "You think I'll encounter guardians?" He asked.

The focus of his mind's eyes seemed to sharpen on Rudania's form.

"Yeah, stupid question. I know." He sighed, adding the arrows to his quiver.

"Okay, I have a lock. Please send me to that stable, Ruta." He requested politely.

There was a pulse of affirmation, before all he saw was blue.

He coalesced in front of the stable, and walked up to the stable keep, an old man who seemed to be eyeing him in wonder.

Probably because he just formed out of light.

Regardless, the man still cleared his throat and gave his standard greeting despite the odd looks he attracted from the rest of the stable folk.

Link decided to see if he could get any information from him.

"Hey, say I wanted to get up to Goron City, do you know a way to deal with the heat?" He tried. He could always have Ruta encase him in ice and just... fling him at the city but he kinda wanted to shelve that strategy for the time being.

"Hmm, Goron City, aye?" The man hummed, taking a purposeful glace at Vah Rudania in the distance. "I know just the thing. But I can't just give my knowledge for free. Hmm. Well, you look like a storied young man. How about a tale for a tale? I tell you this, and you answer a question of my own." The man offered.

Link had a pretty good guess at what the question would be, but decided to acquiesce and agree, no matter how much Ruta thrummed with a twinge of annoyance in the background at being so obviously shaken for information in exchange for what was probably common knowledge in the stable. "Sure, sounds fair enough."

The man gave a toothy grin, and pointed over to a rock outcrop.

"There are tons of fireproof lizards that make their home in those outcrops. Grab one and mix it with a monster part to make a fireproof elixir. It'll shield you from the flames, but you might wanna make a couple. It'll wear off eventually." He explained, before indicating to the rocks where Ruta could be seen. "Now I'm old, sonny. But I ain't blind. I know you came from that thing over there. And I know it resembles that big lizard on the mountain over there." He said, indicating the Divine Beasts. "I wanna know what they are, and what you're doing to em."

Ruta pulsed with indignation at being referred to as a 'thing', but Link made sure she backed down before a visible reaction shook the beast. 

"Quite a big tale for an ingredient list." Link chuckled, before cracking his hands. "You might wanna sit down for this. Because you ain't gonna believe a word of it."

The old man chuckled. "Sonny, I've seen some things in my time. Just try to blow me away."

"Names Link, the Legendary hero." He said, holding up his Triforce wrist. "These are Divine Beasts, ancient superweapons capable of leveling cities with a single attack. They were made to kill the Calamity, and now I'm freeing them from it's hold so they can do that."

The old man blinked, before shrugging. "Might as well happen." He muttered.

"Excuse me?" Link asked.

"Kid, you just descended from the skies as blue light that took the shape of a person. You coulda told me you were an angel sent from Hylia, and I woulda taken your word for it. Ancient technothingies was probably the tip of the iceberg for how crazy this could get anyhow." The old man stated, before tossing him a grey elixir.

"Here, a fireproof elixir. I don't need it, but you'll need a base so you now what it's meant to look like." The man said, before waving him off. "Now, run along now, youngin."

Link took a start over to the outcrop, and began looking around for lizards.

"He seemed nice." He said aloud.

After he's brewed his third elixir, he felt ready to go.

He downed the first drink, and started his ascent. Only to immediately come into contact with a guardian not even a hundred meters from the stable.

He could feel Ruta's smug energy from all the way through the mountain as he dodged another laser.

He knocked one of Ruta's arrows, praying to whatever Goddess would listen as he loosed it at the stalker.

The arrow hit true, with the blue glowing end striking into the automaton's eye.

It was then that something odd happened, the Guardian went dark as creeping blue lines extended from the insertion point. The blue energy coursed through it, the red being chased away before swirls of malic erupted from the ancient machine. 

The guardian glowed an ice blue, similar in color to the Cryonis blocks made by the Sheikah slate. Then it got back up.

He readied his shield as it's eye fixed on him, but no targeting laser came. It just, waited.

"Ruta, you didn't." He gaped, looking at the glowing automaton.

Ruta's smug energy increased tenfold.

This changed everything.

He only had two more arrows, but surely they could manufacture more.

He wasn't even sure how they worked, but he'd have to quiz her later.

He had a guardian to test run.

It didn't seem to have any connection with him like Ruta did, so instead he reached out to Ruta to see if she could communicate with it.

That got a response.

So by an elaborate process of sending and receiving inputs, via Vah Ruta as the main controller, he eventually figured out how to get the guardian to move, and how to control it's weapon.

He did something he'd always wanted to do, and clambered on top. Settling down for a much more relaxing ride.

In no time at all, his new Guardian(haha) had made it's way up the hill, taking him up ridges and through valleys towards Goron city.

It was probably best they didn't stay by the road. He didn't particularly want to explain this.

When he got close enough, he gave Ruta the order to retrieve the guardian.

Immediately, they perked up and swiveled back, making a beeline for Vah Ruta.

He slid down the hill to Goron city, before casually gliding down into the town square.

His eyes scanned around before the store with the armor icon caught his eye.

700 rupees later, he'd acquired what was possibly the dumbest chest plate in existence. But it kept the heat off, so he wasn't picky.

Talking to the village elder lent him more info to their plight.

It seemed like he could guess how things would go on this adventure from this point forward.

The local divine beast would be fucking something up, in this case it was making a mess of the mountain and making it unsafe to mine in the upper caverns. They need someone to go do something they don't have the manpower, or the ability, to do. In this case it's fetch a guy named Yunobo who disappeared after leaving to fetch the Boss's painkillers. And that's where he comes in, to solve the problem.

Looking out over the northern mine, completely covered in monsters. He made an executive decision to get some artillery support.

Ruta was more than happy to oblige, and soon it was raining melted ice spikes.

He hummed as he headed for the cave, blasting the wall to free Yunobu when Rudania let out a roar and began to move, descending closer to the city.

"Oh no, Goro!" Yunobu exclaimed. "He's moving! I gotta go!" He yelled, before he rolled off as fast as he could.

Link took a moment to study his map, before marking a place for Ruta to deploy the new Guardian. Some fire support would definitely be needed for their plan of 'Fire themselves from a canon and hope it works'. 

Another, more distorted roar sounded from the beast.

No one else could hear it, but in that roar he heard something that made his instincts flare. A cry for help.

Maybe Ruta was influencing him, but he could tell that Rudania had at least realized that it's freedom was nearing reality.

The suffering in that call made him grit his teeth in determination, as new memories of a loud Goron whizzed through his mind.

He'd save Daruk, and he'd save Rudania.

He'd allow nothing less.

Chapter Text

Yunobo knew they were in a bad place.

Even with his painkillers, Bludo could barely stand without wincing, let alone help him tackle driving off Rudania!

He couldn't face the beast alone, but he was the only one with the necessary power to be able to be fired at the mechanical menace.

So, he had to try.

He was trying to figure out how to go about firing himself out of the cannon, especially since he lacked the necessary explosive force, when he heard the sounds of combat behind him.

He turned around to see the Hylian from earlier hacking and slashing at the knees of a Moblin, before driving his blade through its neck when it staggered.

Oh no that's right! He completely forgot to thank him for freeing him! Oh, he must think he's the most ungrateful Goron on the mountain!

But... he'd blasted the rock trapping him in the cave earlier, right?

And he'd exterminated every monster in the northern mine!

So, he was probably brave, with some way of generating enough concussive force to shatter several boulders.

That meant he could help! Yunobo just needed to apologize, thank him for the help, and then ask for one more favor! Maybe throw in the fate of the city?

The Hylian smiled as he looked up at him, strapped from the neck down in flame breaker armor. He must have made a stop in town, he didn't have the greaves last time he saw him.

"Hey!" He waved, and the Hylian walked up to him.

"Boy, that doesn't look good." The little guy pointed out, obviously indicating Rudania.

"No, it doesn't." He agreed, before fumbling. "Oh, where are my manners!? I'm Yunobu! Descendent of the great Daruk!" He exclaimed. "Thank you for saving me earlier! What's your name?"

"Link." He said. "The same as the one a hundred years ago." 

"Oh!" Yunobo exclaimed, excited. "Are you the descendant of a Champion, too? What are the odds!?"

Link just smirked, before saying, "Yeah, let's go with that." He then indicated to Rudania. "Bludo asked me to help, so what's the plan?"

"Same as always." He shrugged. "Fire me out of a cannon at it until it leaves."

"Is that... safe?" Link asked.

"Mostly!" Yunobo smiled. "I can use Daruk's Protection just like Daruk could! So there's no need to worry about me getting hurt, Goro!" He flared the shield to life to show him.

"Useful." Link hummed, running a hand over the barrier. "How are we firing you out the cannon?" Link asked.

Yunobo paused. "Usually, Bludo uses a special type of bomb to launch, but we don't exactly have any." He shrank into himself a little. "I don't suppose you have anything we can use?"

Link tapped a button on his weird slate thing on his hip, and a bright blue orb appeared in his hands.

"Like this?" He asked, throwing the ball.

It rolled for a moment, then Link hit a button on the tablet and it exploded in energy.

"Yeah!" Yunobo cheered. This Hylian was amazing! Creating bombs, killing monsters! He was really cool!

"Oh, he's getting awfully close." Link commented.

Yunobo pivoted to see Rudania almost at the bridge, footsteps leaving trickles of magma in it's wake.

"Oh no, Goro!" He cried, "We won't be able to hit it with this cannon! It's too close! We'll need to retreat!"

"It's okay." Link said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think I have an idea."

He raised an arm, and a very familiar noise came to Yunobo's ear.

He was about to call a warning, when a beam of light fired and shot directly for Rudania's face.

The explosion hit, and Rudania roared, shifting over the mountainside to scurry away.

Yunobo didn't even bother to hide his surprise, as he turned to the Hylian who had seemingly conjured an explosive beam to strike Rudania. 

"Roads clear!" Link called with a cheerful smile.

He was behaving like what he'd done was completely normal, but maybe it was?

Yunobo didn't know many Hylians. Maybe this was common in their parts?

Or maybe Link just lived a wild life, and had abilities to show for his adventures. 

Either way, Yunobo was just glad he was on his side.

"That was amazing, Goro!" He cheered, looking down at Link who gave a shy smile up at him. "How did you do that! It was incredible! You sent Rudania running without breaking a sweat!"

"Let me show you!" Link smiled, but whatever he was going to say was lost when Yunobo saw a Guardian crest the hill.

"Take cover!" He shouted, rushing to Link and forming Daruk's protection around them both. He braced for impact, yet it never arrived.

He looked up at the Guardian and noticed it wasn't charging its laser. Not just that, it was glowing a unique blue, unlike the red he'd seen before.

"Yunobo." Link said soothingly from next to him. "It's fine."

Carefully, he lowered his shield.

The Guardian just looked at them unmoving. Not a glimmer of any offensive action being taken. It just... waited.

Link casually walked up to it, and leaned on it. It remained unresponsive.

"It's under my control." He explained.

"H- How?" Yunobo gaped.

"We'll walk and talk." Link stated, pointing at the mountain. The Guardian immediately locked onto the bridge, before firing.

The Bridge swung down to make the way accessible.

"We gotta catch up to Rudania." Link pointed. Sure enough, Rudania was reeling around to continue its assault.

Yunobo nodded, a determined look crossing his face. "I'm with you." He declared.

Link just grinned. It was a wild, feral thing that felt like it had just been restrained all the time he'd known Link. Its energy was infectious, and Yunobo couldn't help but feel his fear ease.

He didn't need to be scared, but he had a feeling the monsters should be.

Link talked as they journeyed to the next canon, ducking past sensors and other Guardian life forms. 

He debated firing an override arrow into one of the flying Guardians, but given that they seemed to lack any offensive capabilities, he stayed his hand. He had partially remembered a Guardian called a skywatcher, and wanted to save ammo for when he came across one of those. Raining energy blasts from the sky would be glorious.

Yunobo was a good listener, and Link found himself really liking him. He was scared, but he still went forward with him to fend off Rudania. In his mind, that was true bravery.

Ruta pulsed a message, that he eventually translated as 'You're not brave, just crazy.'

And he'd never been madder at something he absolutely agreed with.

They approached the second canon, beginning to get into a routine.

"Alright, hop in!" He called to Yunobo.

"On it!" He replied, curling up in the cannon end before he was coated in the amber glow of Daruk's Protection.

A tap later and a bomb appeared in his grasp, which he placed in the blast end of the cannon.

"Firing!" He called as a warning, before hitting the blast button.

Yunobo soared through the air once more, impacting against Vah Rudania with an audible crash.

He could almost hear the Blight roaring in rage as Rudania moved once again.

Yunobo landed beside him with a thud, before uncurling from his roll. He swayed on his feet slightly, disoriented from the blast. Link reached out to steady him, receiving a thankful grin in return.

"That's the second one down." He hummed, looking over the pass. "How many are left? We're sending him back into the volcano, right?"

Yunobo nodded. "Should be only one left before he goes over the top." He stated.

"Probably some kind of passive retreat protocol." Link muttered. "Repeatedly hit it with something of heavy caliber, and it retreats to a designated safe point."

"I only know about half those words." Yunobo chuckled.

"Hit big thing with big force enough to make it leave." Link summarized with a smile.

"Already knew that one!" Yunobo laughed.

They took off again, chatting idly up the trail as Link made quick work of any enemies.

"Hey, so, if I take control of Vah Rudania, would it be okay to take him with me?" He asked, bringing a metal cube down on a Moblins head with Magneisis.

"You can do that!?" Yunobo exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, remember what I was saying about Vah Ruta? I boarded her, killed the Blight controlling her, and then was recognized as her new pilot." Link explained.

"What recognized you? Was it just a vacancy since the old pilot was dead?" Yunobo asked.

"No, Ruta chose me." He stated. "They have a kind of consciousness built into them. I imagine Rudania is the same, in that he's being forced to attack and ravage the mountainside against his will." 

"That kind of existence." Yunobo contemplated. "It must be straight torture."

"You have no idea." Link shuddered. "The Divine Beasts are fiercely loyal to their pilots. If anyone besides another pilot tries to board them, they kick and fight until they're removed. They're not just being manipulated, their boarded by something that isn't a champion and piloted by something that isn't their pilot. It's pure anguish."

Ruta pulsed with sadness as Link turned his gaze on Rudania.

Yunobo looked up at the form of Rudania in the distance, a look of horror on his face that was replaced by steely determination. "We can't just leave him to suffer."

"Which is why we drive him into the volcano to keep him in one spot so I can board." Link nodded, glad that he understood.

In no time at all, they'd made their way to the final cannon, firing Yunobo out, which caused Rudania to begin its ascent, most likely against the Blight's will.

They rushed up the volcano, reaching the lip to see Rudania plunge into the smoldering lava.

Without a hint of delay, Link took a running leap off the side.

"Stay safe, Goro!" Yunobo cheered from the sidelines. "I'll get a feast of rock roast prepared for when you get back!"

Link smirked, as Ruta pulsed victoriously. They were one step closer. 

Beneath them, the Blight roared. And Rudania cheered.

Chapter Text

Link drifted towards what appeared to be the entrance with his paraglider.

He was relatively certain the paraglider had to be magic of some kind, because his wooden equipment had burst into flames just getting up the mountain, yet the paraglider's fabric and wood frame remained untouched.

He touched down on Rudania, taking a feel of the familiar yet entirely unique ancient material before pacing over to the pedestal.

He unhooked his Sheikah Slate and touched it against the stone. Just like with Vah Ruta, it turned blue, and the door opened.

"Hey! Little guy!" A familiar yet unfamiliar voice called to him. "Long time no see! I knew you'd come for me, y'know. I never stopped believing in you!"

Link felt a pained smile cross his face; the unconditional trust this spirit showed him, despite him barely remembering his face, made what he lost all the more painful. Why did all the champions have to be so sweet? Couldn't one be an asshole for once?

Ruta pulsed with affection, trying to comfort him but it was muted somewhat. Muffled in a way that made it feel like she was talking through a wall.

It was odd, his mind was never this quiet anymore. Ruta was always a presence, pulsing and chittering, always there. And now, she was barely present. He understood why Mipha looked so distraught when she reached for Ruta and found nothing. Even muted, the sensation was uncomfortable.

"I saw what you did to Vah Ruta when you freed Mipha, it's incredible!" The voice boomed with pride. "But let's forget about the past for a second, we've gotta get you to the control terminal."

Link nodded in agreement, before taking off into the beast, immediately noticing the terrible lighting.

"The Blight realized you were coming and shut down all the lights, so watch your step."

It definitely was dark in the beast, luckily he could just hold out a torch and it would catch fire. That made it extremely easy to light the way.

He reached the main control console, and tapped his slate against it. The manual controls were downloaded to the slate, feeling so much more clunky now that he knew how fluid they could be. And he ached to figure out how Rudania would move. He couldn't imagine the awkward, stilted movements the Blight forced from him would be all he could do.

He ventured out into Vah Rudania, solving the puzzles inside to grant access to his terminals.

It was amazing that given how hot it was that the leaves inside the Divine Beast didn't just combust unless exposed to flame, but given how borderline magical these Divine Beasts were, he wasn't about to question it too deeply. Even though merely knocking an arrow would cause it to catch fire in less than a second.

The ghost of the champion calling out encouragement whenever he beat back a foe or solved a puzzle was very appreciated. It made him feel like he was doing something amazing by just burning a few branches or lighting a blue fire to open a door. He smiled at how chipper and enthusiastic the voice was, even after a century in captivity. Somehow, being called 'little guy' wasn't as demeaning when it came from him.

With every terminal he unlocked, he felt something build. A tension within the beast that was itching to release, and he had a feeling he knew what was about to happen.

"You've done great, little guy!" The spirit boomed. "Now, head back to the terminal. I'm sure you know what's next."

Link felt butterflies in his stomach, equal parts excited and nervous. He was definitely pumped to free Vah Rudania and maybe even gain a new friend, but he was also excited to get out of this very hot volcano. But he was also worried. He knew now, that the moment he approached the terminal that the Blight haunting the Divine Beast would ambush him. Waterblight was a handful, and he knew that every one of those monsters were engineered to kill very skilled and powerful warriors, and they succeeded.

Regardless, he needed to face whatever monster haunted Rudania to wrench control back from the demon king. And his friend could not go unavenged.

So, he approached the terminal and let a feral grin grow on his face.

The Blights played dirty, but just because he was the hero didn't mean he needed to play completely fair either.

'Everything in place, Ruta?" He thought, getting a weak pulse of affirmation back. It's go time.

He tapped at his slate before knocking back a Mighty Elixir, a Hasty Elixir, and a Tough Elixir. He felt the effects begin to flow through his veins as power surged and his skin developed an almost metallic shine.

'May the best warrior win, bitch.'

He tensed as he raised the Sheikah slate to the terminal. He'd barely tapped it when the malice poured out in a surge.

Quickly, he sprinted back from the apparatus and pivoted on his heels, bringing his Knights Claymore to bear upon the abomination.

The malice coalesced into a hideous form, twisting with Guardian technology that made his skin crawl.

Those weapons didn't belong to it.

A giant glowing Greataxe flickered to life on the end of the thing's right hand, the left igniting in flames.

Its pulsing eye fixed on him before it roared, the entirety of Vah Rudania shaking from the force.

Link charged towards it, dodging the monster's counterattack as he rushed to deliver a flurry of blows against its corrupted flesh.

He flipped away, knocking an ice arrow that he loosed into its eye. 

The Blight screamed as it crashed into the ground, blinded by pain and ice as Link rushed to attack its immobilized form.

He ducked away as it rose, keeping its attention firmly on him.

If it heard the sound building up behind it, it didn't show.

Smirking, he snapped his fingers and the Guardian fired. The blast took the blight in the back of the head, and it was sent flying right into Link's loving arms.

His claymore skewered the thing through the chest, and Link immediately took a new weapon from his slate and started stabbing into it with a Royal Broadsword.

The Guardian Stalker was already gone by the time to Blight reoriented itself.

It disappeared into wisps of blue, reforming over the console.

It threw its arms out and a shield flared to life around it, identical to Yunobo's deflective barrier. A mockery of Daruk's Protection. The Blight then pressed its hand alight with flames against its blade, and the weapon glowed a fierce orange as it was imbued with fire magic.

Link snapped his finger again, and another blast fired from over their heads. It impacted with the shield, but simply deflected off and hit one of the pillars surrounding them.

The Blight seemed to laugh before it began pulling in energy in a giant swirl. Link had a feeling he didn't want to let it finish.

Thinking quickly, he chucked a bomb at it and grinned when it was sucked in past the shield. He detonated it and the Blight fell to the ground once more, shield shattering in the process.

Link snapped his fingers again, rushing towards it as another blast impacted the blight's skull.

In a viscous motion, he plunged his broadsword through its head before reaching down to twist the claymore in its chest.

With a heave, he wrenched it free, before swinging around to put the full weight of it on the monster's neck.

It severed from its shoulders, cutting off the roar of rage as it rolled along the floor.

Link's chest heaved with exhaustion, leaning against his claymore as the Blight began to dissipate in an explosion of Malice.

Ruta came back to focus, as an overwhelming sense of joy and triumph weighed on his mind as she cheered. She seemed quite pleased with her performance as fire support.

He pushed himself off his claymore, tapping at his slate so that both it and his broadsword were reabsorbed.

He was definitely going to have to tinker with the slate's storage function at some point, it was too interesting not to examine.

He walked up to the control terminal, absorbing the heart container as he passed.

He was going to need to find a system to complete shrines, as simply taking a ride everywhere had led to him skipping more than a few.

He placed his slate against the pedestal and immediately in the back of his mind, a presence began developing that he recognized all too well. But first, he had company.

"Nice work, little guy!" A gruff voice sounded out.

Spinning, he found a translucent Goron in front of him. He had several spirit flames surrounding him, and he had a wide grin on his face.

Daruk. His best friend.

"I owe you big for this!" He chuckled. "Thanks to you, me and Rudania are finally free! And now, our century-old Ganon beatdown plan can finally go into effect. Speaking of which..." 

He raised an arm before clenching his fist. Nothing happened.

"Worth a try." He shrugged, before smiling back at him. "I was gonna take old Rudania here down the mountain to get a better shot, but it looks like he's not out of the action yet. Take good care of him for me, okay? And keep him on a leash, he get's distracted easily." He guided.

Link nodded, smiling back at the Goron as he straightened.

"I want to give you something. It's a special power of mine called Daruk's Protection. It's no good to me now that I'm dead, but I have a feeling you'll get some use out of it." He said, before slamming his knuckles together. "Here it comes!" He called, as he pulled his knuckles apart as the power gathered in an orb of energy.

He pushed it forward, the energy slamming into his chest as it absorbed into him. He felt Rudania's presence in his mind grow as the new power filled him.

He braced himself before slamming his fists together, an amber barrier forming around him.

His smile grew wider.

"Now, getting this guy to move is a bit of a learning curve. So let's see if we can get out of the mountain." Daruk grinned.

Link reached out to the new voice, his soul connecting as something wild and curious peered back. 

The connection with Rudania was far different than the connection with Ruta. Everything was different, from the weapon controls to how the limbs moved to the field of view in his mind's eye. But he had time, and he had a teacher.

Shouldn't take too long.

Yunobo was slightly anxious. His friend had dived for Vah Rudania almost 6 hours ago, yet he hadn't so much as heard a peep from Goron City about the situation, and it was worrying him to bits.

His mind was overrun with possibilities. What if something had happened? What if Link had been killed, or worse, what if he was trapped in the same torture as Vah Rudania?

He should have jumped down with him, with his Protection he would have survived the fall.

But didn't Link say that non-champions would be bucked off? He would have just been flung into lava, potentially dragging Link with him!

He'd have just gotten in the way. But that didn't stop him from being worried sick.

It was to his great relief and terror when a claw gripped the rockface along the lip of Death Mountain.

This was it, the moment of truth.

The colossal form heaved itself up as its face peaked over the lip, glowing a firm blue.

Relief flooded him. Link had done it! He'd conquered Rudania, and now Death Mountain was safe again!

And he'd played a role, no matter how small, in getting him there!

He thought he was allowed to feel pretty good about that.

Vah Rudania began to clamber down the mountain, the fire that always burned around his feet extinguished as Link piloted him down towards the city.

There was a moment, when they passed him by, that he saw a spirit standing beside Link. The spirit dwarfed his friend, standing tall and proud.

He couldn't help the smile on his face when he realized who stood beside him.

The ghost turned to face him, looking back at him with a grin that widened.

Daruk gave him a wave, fist pumping the air that Yunobo happily returned.

He rolled into a ball and headed back toward the city.

He promised Rock Roast after all.

Deep within the old Princess's study, something flickered to life.

It picked itself off the floor, examining the signals being sent through the secure channels.

Two Guardian Weapons, classified as Divine Beasts, were communicating with one another. Curiously, it tapped into their feed.

It jolted when it realized the situation; something had happened to its brothers. The castle was no longer secure. They were at risk.

They needed to move.

They clambered up the wall and towards the window, springing from the wall to the battlement below.

They needed to reconvene with the recognized Guardian signals, then they needed to locate Zelda.

It was their purpose to serve, after all.

Chapter Text

Link quickly found why Daruk had warned him that Rudania was impulsive. He was constantly flittering around like an energetic puppy, wanting to inspect every rock and cavern along the way down the mountain.

He could hardly blame him. For an entire century, he was forced to walk the exact same route around the top of Death Mountain with no breaks. Link's wanderlust would have driven him crazy, too.

So he indulged Rudania, even if it led to the journey being a touch longer than it would be otherwise. Rudania's attention flicked to this and that, and Link delighted in his sheer joy at simply being able to go where he pleased. At his request, Link carefully poked Rudania's head into one of the larger caverns for a look around.

The differences between Rudania and his sister were definitely showing themselves. While Ruta was more measured (to a degree), content to gaze at the scenery and laugh with the pilot. Rudania was more adventurous, and he could only imagine how that would play out in combat. While Ruta was a tempest, a controlled force of nature that fought with a fluidity unlike her hulking form, Rudania was designed as a chaotic brawler, driving forward with all the power of a landslide.

Both titans preened under his praise, and Link blushed. He constantly forgot about the fact that their mental link went both ways.

He pulled Rudania out from the cavern and looked at the sun, finding that it was hovering just over the horizon. He should probably get back to Goron City, especially if he wanted any of the Rockroast Yunobo promised.

He guided Rudania towards the city, before he urged him forward with a slide of his foot. Rudania clambered over the terrain with ease, outpacing Ruta by a considerable amount.

He panicked when Ruta pulsed in offence, and he quickly made the distinction that Rudania was definitely smaller than Ruta, and was designed for mountainous terrain, which made sense that he'd be swifter. But Ruta held an advantage over Rudania in range, because of the ice artillery he'd installed. Meaning that she didn't need to be fast and-

He sighed with relief when Ruta gave a pulse of content, satisfied with his appeal. An angry Ruta was something he did not wish to deal with. He could feel Rudania chuckling under him, before he told him to kick it up a notch.

Link complied, perplexed, and Rudania picked up speed.

It was only when Rudania pulsed with smug energy at Ruta that he realized Rudania was showing off.

He shook his head when they began pulsing at one another with annoyance and mirth. 'Siblings,' he thought with a small smile. Whatever they were saying, they were very clearly riling each other up.

'Wait, does that make me the dad?" He wondered, as the two war machines bickered like children in his head.

He crested the lake of lava, Rudania's claws coming unscathed through the molten rock as he crossed towards Goron City.

He pushed his foot backwards, slowing Rudania to a stop over the rock outcrops.

He raised an arm and slowly lowered it in height. Vah Rudania responded to his movements, mimicking them as it lay down as if it were resting.

He relaxed his connection with Rudania, and the hulking machine went dormant. Looking down over the city with blue glowing eyes.

He took a running leap from his back, bringing out his paraglider to glide towards the city.

Meanwhile, he took hold of his connection to Ruta, feeling her perk up as their souls came together.

The connection was weaker, probably because he wasn't in direct contact with her, but he still held some control over her, even if it was limited. He noticed a function that wasn't present before, which was odd considering the number of hours he spent simply messing around with Ruta's settings. None of it was labelled, and he didn't have a manual, so trial and error and intuition were his only ways to figure it out.

He initiated the function, curious about its purpose, before realizing it probably wasn't a good idea to initialize anything without being there personally to reduce the damage.

Too late to shut it off, he felt Ruta begin to move. He could feel her leg actuators firing as she began to travel, legs carrying her in a specific direction. Towards him.

A recall function, he realized. A way for the pilot to call their Divine Beast to their position. It followed that the function would have remained hidden or deactivated while he was inspecting her, because there was no need for a recall function when he was on the Divine Beast.

Which meant that Ruta was currently en route to Goron City, and he could only hope she didn't crush anyone.

Another pulse of indignation from Ruta, and a pulse of amusement from Rudania, who laughed at Ruta's offence.

This was going to be a long adventure.

He touched down in the center of the town and found himself immediately bear-hugged by a laughing Yunobo.

There was a moment when Rudania immediately itched to ready his weapons to defend him from his 'attacker', but Link quickly shut that down with a firm command.

"You did it, Goro!" Yunobo cheered, giving a firm squeeze. Rudania went on the defensive once more.

"R- Ribs!" He squeaked out. Yunobo sheepishly dropped him, patting him on the back, unaware of the fact that Link had to tell Rudania not to kill him three times.

"Oops, sorry." He apologized before brightening. "But you did it! Rudania's free!" He gestured behind him, to the form of Rudania alight in blue glow on the cliff behind them.

"Yeah, honestly, that went way better than what I was expecting." Link shrugged with a smile.

"What do you mean, Goro?" Yunobo asked.

"Well, Waterblight nearly skewered me on his spear when I fought him, but Fireblight didn't even scratch me! I was expecting to come down the mountain covered in blood!" Link laughed, oblivious to the look of horror on Yunobo's face. He cleared his throat.

"Come on, I've got some Rare Rockroast prepared, they should be cool enough to eat now," Yunobo said, pulling Link to one side of town before disappearing into one of the houses. He emerged with two glowing rocks on bones and handed one to Link. "Let's talk about what happened in the Divine Beast while we eat." He led him over to the outskirts of town, where there was a cliff with a good view of the rest of Hyrule.

Link nodded, blowing a bit on his Rockroast before taking a bite. It was actually pretty good.

He talked about the darkness of the Divine Beast and about the puzzles he had to solve to get access to the terminals.

"And there were leaves that were just... perfectly fine in the heat. Like, they still caught fire when I lit them, but they were just perfectly fine in the middle of a volcano." He said.

"That doesn't seem possible, Goro." Yunobo mused. "They were dry, right? I didn't think vegetation of any kind could survive here."

"Exactly!" Link exclaimed. "Like, I held a torch in my hand and it caught fire in seconds! I so much as knock an arrow, and it goes up in flames! But these brambles? Untouched." He finished, taking another bite of his Rockroast, gulping it down.

They ate in silence for a while before Link cleared his throat.

"Oh yeah, and I can do this now." He said, and shifted his arms into a guard. A shimmering amber shield sprang to life around him.

Yunobo's jaw hit the floor.

"H- How can you..."

"The ghosts of the Champions." Link said with a shrug. "He said he didn't need their magic anymore, so he gave it to me. Pretty cool, right?"

"I..." Yunobo looked lost for words. "Yeah, I guess it is cool." He nodded, still trying to grasp the fact that Link could use Daruk's Protection.

Suddenly, they heard a cry of alarm from the guards. Yunobo stood up in alarm, but Link merely closed his eyes.

"Ah, looks like Ruta's arrived. Fashionably late if I do say so." He sighed.

"You called her here!?" Yunobo asked.

"She felt left out. I couldn't just keep her down at the foothill." He shrugged. "Give me a minute, I'll direct her over to Rudania. Hold this." He said, passing his half-finished Rockroast over to Yunobo before disappearing into ribbons of blue light.

He reformed within Ruta's control room, syncing with her as he took manual control over her movements.

Immediately, he changed course and started shifting left, bringing Ruta around the city to stand beside Rudania.

He sighed as he very carefully tried to find purchase in the rocks for Ruta's hooves. 

"I know why you can't, but sometimes I wish you could pilot yourself." He sighed. Ruta pulsed apologetically, he could almost feel her ears drooping. 

"I wonder, can I even pilot both of you?" He asked aloud to his companions. "I mean, it feels like I need to be in contact with you in some way to pilot you both, but I can't be in two places at once." He huffed, bringing another one of Ruta's hooves down and pushing her forward another step.

Ruta gave a sad pulse of emotion, whilst Rudania began to whirr with some kind of calculations that Link couldn't even begin to decipher.

He finally placed a hoof down and pulled Ruta into step beside Rudania. He imagined it must make for quite the terrifying image, two city-destroying weapons standing over your city. Though the effect was largely lost on him. He couldn't really take them seriously, especially after Ruta had whined for 20 minutes on the way to Death Mountain when he departed from her to complete a shrine. And she didn't stop whining until he returned and gave her pats.

Rudania suddenly gave a burst of amusement at his retelling, and Ruta gave him what could only be called a look of betrayal.

Rudania's amusement shifted to joy and satisfaction when the calculations finished running through his mind. Suddenly, ribbons of blue light came from the ceiling and coalesced into a ruby red gemstone. It held the Sheikah eye on one side, and the rendition of Vah Rudania on the other. So he could guess that it was Rudania who had sent it.

Confused, he reached down to pick it up. The moment his skin made contact with the gem, he felt Rudania's presence grow in his mind.

His eyes widened as he inspected the gem, now glowing with warm light, as he clutched it in his grasp.

He reached out for Rudania and connected firmly. Not muted, not muffled, but whole. 

He raised an arm, syncing with Rudania, and watched him stand. This gem was somehow amplifying his connection.

Clever boy.

Rudania preened smugly under the praise, whilst Ruta just huffed. 

As if the prove his point, more blue light descended to form an ocean blue crystal, with an elephant engraved on it. 

Well, I guess that answered that.

Chapter Text

The cloaked figure clenched his fist as he looked out over the fallen kingdom.

The calamity had turned on him, he should have been dead. It all should have fallen apart.

Yet here he stood, amongst the ruins of its handywork.

He understood now, with a broad grin. Ganon had never betrayed him, he simply thought his service was better suited for a new timeline. In a new future. To ensure his rule remained firm.

The Yiga clan were fools, they couldn't be trusted to even sacrifice themselves for their lord's whims. They would be of no use to him, nor did he wish to indulge whatever pathetic ruler they had on the other end of the century.

He would do this with his lord's strength alone, and nothing would stop him from ensuring his king's absolute rule.

He looked down from his perch, at the infernal settlement of the Goron's. More specifically, at the two titans on the outskirts.

That monumental pain in his side clearly existed here too, two of the giant weapons had been released from his master's grip. He would not allow a third.

The gear pulsed in his grip, as the malice thick in the land responded. Surging to obey his whims.

He was going to enjoy it, this time around.

Link waved to Yunobo as he boarded Rudania. He figured he could probably have some fun before he ventured to the Hebra region to deal with Vah Medoh, so he planned to head north around Death Mountain to gather some shrines and find some Koroks before he continued on his way.

He gripped the sapphire stone in his hand, lighting it up blue.

It was going to be an interesting experience, piloting both of them at once, but he had a feeling he'd manage it.

He'd need to if he was going to take down Vah Medoh.

He opened both connections and felt the pair of divine weapons respond in kind, awaiting instruction. 

Ruta was still pouting and huffing about his decision to pilot Rudania manually instead of her, but in his mind it made sense. He had more than enough experience piloting Ruta from the inside, considering he'd brought her all the way from Lanayru. He was definitely confident in his ability to wield her efficiently.

Rudania however, was still an unknown variable. There were still systems and processes to figure out, and terminals to examine. There was so much to do and so much to figure out. In contrast, he'd never piloted a Divine Beast through the crystals connection before. He's need to do it with Ruta anyway because he was way more familiar with her than Rudania at the moment. 

Despite knowing that, she still complained and whined like a petulant child. It made it hard to remember that she was the elegant and refined one, and Rudania who was more than happy with the situation, was the excitable and emotional one.

There was a spike of mental laughter from Rudania as he giggled at Ruta's petty plight. He was ready and raring to go, urging Link to put him in full gear so he could charge across the landscape.

Link held firm, instead focusing on Ruta through the crystal and starting to guide her down the hill. The journey would only take longer if they needed to wait for her to find purchase on the uneven ground, so he guided her towards to more flat rockface down the hill to be able to keep pace. 

When she was on firmer ground 10 minutes later, he finally urged Rudania forward at an easy pace. He gently pushed down Rudania's urge to go faster, instead taking the time to keep pace with Ruta as they travelled. 

He marveled at how easy it was to control Ruta from a distance, even within the Divine Beast. Honestly, Rudania had outdone himself.

He felt Rudania preen with praise, and Ruta sulk with jealousy. 

He didn't know why, especially when she carried the guardian they'd purified together, which was incredible in itself.

He felt the need to remind Ruta she wasn't being replaced. Because he definitely wasn't going to just... throw her away. Her usefulness aside, at this point, she was a very close friend. Also, the fact that she was sentient made him think it wouldn't be morally okay to replace her.

He was interrupted from his gentle reassurances by a swirl of Malice.

Immediately, both machines were on guard. Rudania's cannons awoke and tracked the malice swirling through the air, superheating the surrounding area while keeping Link at a pleasant temperature. He could feel Rudania's eyes mentally narrow in suspicion at the whisps.

Ruta's shield went live as her own defenses came fully online. He shifted her up the hill slightly to stand closer to him.

The malice began to coalesce, Hinoxes, Lynels, and Talus's forming from the mass. There were some weird Guardian-like creatures composed entirely of Malice forming as well.

The tension in Link's body rose as Rudania concentrated its own defenses on him. Daruk's Protection flickered to life around him as he stared at the still-growing horde. 

This wasn't Ganon's usual method of attack. He shouldn't even have that much power.

He pivoted, facing the castle to find it exactly as it should be. No swirling power or dark force gathering like on a blood moon. It wasn't the work of the calamity.

This was something new. Potentially the Yiga clan he'd heard so much about? He thought they were simple assassins, not... monster summoning sorcerers.

He turned to face the mob and made the executive decision to cut loose. He needed an excuse to test Rudania's capabilities anyway.

Whatever it was, if it thought it could stand against two Divine Beasts, they had severely underestimated them. 

He fired on all cannons, lava and ice cutting into the mob as they began to charge towards them. He lifted Rudania's tail and slammed it into the mountainside, causing dozens of loose rocks and boulders to come crashing into the monster horde.

Ruta put her new ice artillery to good work, with great spikes of ice running Hinoxes through, impaling them in an arctic storm as electric arrows and purple beams impacted her shield. The Guardian clambered out through her opening, clambering on her head before it too joined the fray. Its laser impacting and shattering the ore deposits on the Talus's below with split precision. 

He felt something well up in Rudania, a process fully charged that he initiated without hesitation. 

He felt Rudania's faceplate open up, the pieces blooming outward like a flower as the main cannon was revealed.

His targeting laser shot out, before the energy surged through the core and a giant blast shot forth. The energy tore through the crowd, reducing ever last foe to dust as it was swept across the landscape. 

When the smoke cleared, there lay nothing on the mountainside but the smoldering craters where the energy had torn through.

Link stood, untouched on the back of Vah Rudania. He felt exhilarated. That was a horde that would have destroyed any form of major settlement left, yet with the aid of his trusty companions, the battle was finished in 5 minutes.

He felt Rudania pulse with satisfaction at having cleared the horde, while Ruta remained on guard. He couldn't help but feel she had a point.

He scanned the surrounding terrain, wary of further attack, when he spotted a cloaked figure standing menacingly further atop the hill. They was in all black, and hovering over their right hand was some kind of ball of malice, that pulsated and dripped like a heart. 

They were quite literally the most evil-looking thing he'd ever seen, and he'd seen the blights that haunted the Divine Beasts. It didn't take much to figure out they most definitely had something to do with the horde. Ruta and Rudania must have agreed, because they held no protest when he opened fire.

The cannons blasted and the figure disappeared in a flash of crimson light before they could land. Leaving only a patch of flash frozen melted rock where he stood.

"W- who the hell was that!?" Link asked the Beasts, heart pounding. "What the hell was that!? There were so many of them! How were there so many of them!? That was like 30 Talus's alone!" Rudania pulsed with infuriation that he got away, while Ruta still hadn't settled down. Clearly jumpy from the skirmish.

"No matter. Whatever it was, it's gone now. But it'll be back." Link said aloud. "There's no way it won't. New plan, we head for Vah Medoh, now." He commanded, shifting their trajectory towards Hebra's snowy peaks. He could see Vah Medoh drifting through the sky, flying in circles like a vulture. "We'll need to be ready when it returns, I doubt it'll be as easy as that next time."

Rudania clambered down the uneven terrain to Ruta before they began to move forward as one, side by side.

They'd barely taken a few steps when Ruta felt something approaching their position. 

It was small and bore a guardian signal. He pulsed a command to Rudania, and he dissolved into blue light, reforming in the construct's path to intercept with a Guardian arrow already drawn.

He was confused when an egg-shaped guardian burst from the undergrowth, it's top going up and down as it made various noises similar to chirps.

It danced around him, seemingly delighted for some reason. It didn't seem to be charging a beam, nor did it draw a weapon like the scout constructs, it merely seemed to sing at him.

"Well, hello there, Little one." He smiled, crouching down to be eye-level with it. The Little one jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, odd. Did it know him before the calamity? When he didn't speak? Was that why it sought him out?

He decided the shelve that for the time being, in favor of inspecting the Little one more closely.

"Were you looking for me?" He pondered, getting a chirp of affirmation from the thing. It was kind of adorable.

"Well, you seem rather friendly. How about we talk more up top?” He asked, getting another happy chirp.

He picked it up and held it to his chest, before grabbing the ruby red gem from its holster.

With a mental pulse, the pair dissipated into blue light, before reforming on the back of Vah Rudania.

”Now then, let’s talk Little one.” He smiled, setting them in motion towards Vah Medoh.

The hero was different.

He wasn’t as quiet, he was talkative. He laughed a lot more.

He commanded Divine Beasts Ruta and Rudania with ease as they communicated, easily demonstrating why he was the one destined to save the realm.

He was clever too, examining his legs actuators as they talked, and performing careful maintenance on him. He could feel the Divine Beasts pulse to one another in jealousy as he was pampered.

The one thing that stood out over all else, was how kind he was.

He spoke gently to him, seemingly endeared by him. His voiced soothed something in him he didn’t realise needed soothing.

He liked the new hero. Terrako thought he was kind.

He thought the Princess would like him too.

Chapter Text

Link winced as a stray spark burned his hand.

Unfortunately, he was on a time crunch and couldn't waste time being over careful while he worked the terminal, so he was cutting more than a few corners on the new range upgrades for Rudania. He'd need them if they wanted to take down Medoh.

Ruta whined in his head, and he sighed. Her ice artillery wouldn't be of use in the coming battle, and Rudania didn't suffer from overheating like she did, due to needing to operate at a very high temperature. So he was able to modify his ranged weapon systems much more easily to an extended range. So, unfortunately, he'd be his go-to for this fight. She'd still have a part to play, but he'd be piloting Rudania personally. 

The tiny guardian whined at him for his recklessness, performing similar maintenance on the cannon that hung to the side. But he just waved them off.

Whoever the hooded figure was, they were annoyingly persistent. The monster resistance in the area was way too high to be natural, and they attacked in formations too organized to be simple patrols. He recognized the tactics, they were trying to wear him down with as many bodies as they could before he reached his target, hoping that the exhaustion would make him slip up. They clearly weren't counting on the fact that the Divine Beasts were untiring and wouldn't run out of ammo any time soon. 

Rudania was very clearly in his element as he was urged towards the peaks of Hebra. Link didn't have time to do the regional meetup like he'd normally do. If whoever was tracking him decided to attack the Rito with an army simply because he was taking refuge in the village, then it didn't matter how many Divine Beasts he had under his control. There would be a lot of collateral damage, and civilians may lose their lives. He'd have to wait until he held air supremacy to make contact.

So he had a simple plan.

The little guardian seemed to have knowledge of the Divine Beasts and had provided him with the schematics for Vah Medoh. They had several high-powered cannons all along their wingspan, as well as a deflector shield to fend off boarding parties and protect the main body. They had several small cannons on their underbelly, capable of delivering an explosive bombardment on the landscape below, and a weapon simply dubbed the 'Blades of Light' that seemed like a wide area attack capable of shredding airborne targets.

And of course, there was the Divine Laser. 

It wasn't a question on his mind that the Blight inside would be unable to use Medoh to their fullest potential, so he didn't have to worry about being outplayed. This would be a pure battle of muscle. Or rather, a pure battle of electromagnetic servos, but that didn't have the same ring to it.

It was the first time he'd ever used the Divine Beasts against one another, and he could feel the unease from the pair of them through their duel connection. Luckily, his plan didn't involve them actually damaging their sister.

As powerful as Vah Medoh was, it was actually possible to overload the shield. And if the shield overloads, something very special happens. Almost every defense of the Divine Beast goes offline, like a fuse going out due to the energy flow not being able to complete its circuit. The ancient technicians didn't try to fix this, as the amount of damage you'd need to hit the shield with at once to cause an overload was massive, with the only feasible way to do it being the usage of other Divine Beasts, which, at the time, would have been impossible.

So the plan was simple, he took Rudania up Hebra mountain and engaged Vah Medoh. He'd lure them away from the Rito settlement and towards Vah Ruta's ambush spot before starting a proper battle. He pounded their shield for a bit while Ruta got into position, before they unleashed twin Divine Lasers and overloaded the defenses.

Next, it was a simple case of hijacking a Guardian Skywatcher, which the Tiny Guardian had in his notes as just an airborne version of the regular Guardian, laser eye and all.

Then board the beast, kill the blight, and talk to the Rito. And hopefully, along the way, the hooded figure would make a move, and he'd be able to find out more.

It was a pretty simple plan, but in these cases, simple was often better. A complex plan had more ways to go off the rails, while simply overwhelming the enemy was pretty straightforward.

Maybe that was why the enemy had sent another wave of Hinoxes.

He groaned as 10 of the ogres lumbered through the tree line ahead. They ripped whole trunks out of the ground that they hurled at the Divine Beasts. They bounced off Ruta's deflector shield, and the ones targeted at Rudania were ash before they'd even gotten within 10 ft.

Ruta roared as her ice cannons fired over and over again, great spikes of ice raining from the sky that skewered them.

In a flash, the horde was nothing but icy mist.

The Beasts hadn't even broken stride.

Link would have smirked if he hadn't burned his hand again on the targeting terminal.

Maybe the little one had a point.

Astor quickly grew weary of his prey.

He'd been a tad irritated when they survived his initial horde, and he hadn't had the energy available to amass similar numbers since. He'd barely escaped their counterattack with a well-timed teleport.

They hadn't stopped once since then. Well, they had, but that was to pick up that infernal guardian that was the cause of all his trouble in the first place. Not in response to any of his raids.

He'd harassed them along their journey, assembling the monsters of the region and those of his own creation to try and waste their energy. It seemed that the Beasts required no rest, however, as they never so much as missed a step when confronted with a new company.

If he could get them to so much as falter, he'd be happy. He'd be able to see what made them slip, and be able to go from there. But these beasts seemed to have no weaknesses.

It just added more power to his master, who'd been able to defeat all four simultaneously. 

At this point, it was more to keep the pilot from resting than any actual attempt on their life, and even then, he couldn't be sure if it was being accomplished.

He'd seen that troublesome droid clambering around the outside of the one they called Vah Rudania, seemingly attempting some kind of maintenance on the outer cannons.

Of course, when he'd tried to bombard them and terminate the pest once and for all, every projectile burned up before the machine even noticed.

Given that the elephant appeared to be the most active, he had a feeling the heroic pain was inside somewhere. Which was very troublesome, given the deflector shield that showed no signs of breaking.

He idly considered deploying some Hollows, but decided against it. Even they would most likely be destroyed with minimal effort, and he'd prefer to keep any cards close to his chest if it were possible. 

His attention drifted from the Beasts he was currently surveying to their target. The colossal machine that currently housed an incarnation of his master, Vah Medoh.

If they were to purge it, then Astor would be low on options. The Divine Beasts were one thing, but air supremacy was something he couldn't give up. Vah Medoh would be too powerful in the hands of the pilot, he couldn't allow it to fall.

The issue was that his every plan that he'd constructed prior to their little skirmish had fallen to pieces. The pilot wasn't meant to be able to control both at once. That shouldn't have been possible, and yet it had occurred. His initial plan involved overwhelming the beasts, attacking the one the pilot wasn't in control of, reestablishing control of them, and using them to win the battle. Yet it had all fallen to pieces.

He couldn't even use the nearby populace as a scapegoat because he could simply send one beast to ward off the attack, whilst keeping Medoh tied down with the other.

He was in check, but he still had a few moves before checkmate. 

And it lay on the very machine he was defending.

Ganon surely would not mind if he usurped control just once.

Link was wary.

He'd done maintenance of every system in Rudania, fixing them after a century of neglect and corrosion back to optimal condition. He'd even had time to do some routine maintenance of Vah Ruta, which she chirped pleasantly at. He wondered if it felt good to them to be maintained, like when birds preened their feathers.

Regardless, he'd had time to do this much because there hadn't been an attack in a full hour. Which meant two things. The cloaked figure had given up (unlikely), or he was trying a new tactic. 

He was leaning towards the figure was saving their energy to unleash some massive attack at some point, so he was currently spending his time scanning the surrounding terrain, content to keep an eye out.

Or at least, he was until the little one began hounding him towards his little sleeping nest. It was incredibly thoughtful of the little droid, and he bent down to pat them. 

With a look that clearly said not to get up, they turned to begin looking around at their surroundings.

At his little doctor's orders, Link lay down in his sleeping bag with a small sigh. He didn't even realize how tired he was until his head hit the pillow, but he was plummeting into sleep before he could stop himself.

Rudania rumbled softly around him, rocking him to sleep as he finally rested.

He woke with a start, the little one beeping urgently at him as he jumped out of his sleeping bag.

At first, he was on guard for monsters, or maybe even some kind of magic attack charging in the distance, but he was confused when all he saw when he looked through Rudania's eyes was clear sky.

Nothing was around them, and after double-checking with Ruta he found nothing wrong with her either. The pair of machines seemed just as confused as he was, in fact, Ruta was pulsing with irritation that he'd been awoken, so what were they worried about?

He looked down at them, only to see them pointing urgently off in the distance. He looked up, but didn't see anything amiss.

There wasn't a monster horde coming down the mountain ahead of them, and there wasn't a fleet of Skywatchers blotting out the sky. All there was were clouds, and the form of Vah Medoh lazily approaching.

Wait.

"Fuck." He said aloud, looking at the giant bird.

They'd deviated from their course, flying directly at them with no time to prepare. 

The Blight shouldn't have been able to do that. They weren't smart enough for that. The Divine Beasts needed something to interface with, something to give them orders, the Blights were incapable of providing that. So, how was it coming at them?

He magnified Rudania's vision, scanning the Divine Beast to see if it was some kind of trick, only to see a cloaked figure stood atop the head.

"Motherfucker!" He shouted, as he saw the cannons on Vah Medoh begin to light.

Medoh roared a sorrowful cry, full of pain, as her defenses came online against her will. A targeting laser shot out from her beak, fixing on Vah Ruta.

Link didn't waste any time.

Two targeting lasers shot out, fixing themselves firmly against Vah Medoh's central mass.

Link hadn't fired a blast of the magnitude before, but he was pulling out all the stops to prevent this from going from horrible to fucking terrible.

He took a breath, bracing for the headache.

And all three of them fired.

Chapter Text

The flash was blinding.

Blue light consumed his vision as the energies collided, a thunderous shockwave levelled the forest around them from the pure force of the impact.

The beam launched by Vah Medoh was swiftly pushed back, its Divine Laser simply not enough to compete with two of its siblings. This wasn't how he wanted the battle to go, but it wasn't the first time he'd needed to think on his feet.

The beam was pushed back enough that Vah Medoh's barrier had lit up, shielding the impact as its laser finally ran dry. But Link knew in his heart he hadn't won.

Rudania and Ruta didn't have enough power to sustain the beams long enough to overload the shield, so it seemed his straightforward plan of overwhelming them would be a bust. He'd need to think more strategically.

He was interrupted from his internal monologue by the little one running around his feet, making more urgent noises.

He turned his focus in the direction they were pointing and- oh. There was the fleet of skywatchers.

Well, maybe fleet wasn't the right word. Maybe squadron? The point was, there were about 10 to 15 of the things descending from the sky towards Ruta. Because he didn't have anything else to worry about right now.

Ruta didn't appreciate the sarcasm.

The guardian had emerged, but was having trouble landing shots because the drones were somehow doing evasive maneuvers. Luckily, their return fire simply impacted the shield around Ruta.

He gripped her gem and began firing Ice artillery their way before turning attention back to Medoh

The Divine Lasers had ceased, and Medoh soared unbothered as its cannons prepared a bombardment. He swore in frustration, before firing a few salvos of ice and magma at the bird.

It was then that he had an idea. He'd have needed to find a skywatcher anyway, but it seemed the hooded asshole had delivered a few on a silver platter.

His plan was registered with the Divine Beasts, who immediately started pulsing with alarm because what he was about to do was most likely stupid and highly dangerous. Not that it mattered, considering they were in a highly dangerous situation already.

He ran to Vah Rudania's back, clambering along the spine until he was running along its tail. He pulled out a bow, knocking one of Ruta's override arrows as he finally reached the hammer. 

He grinned as he positioned Rudania, who pulsed with worry about what he was about to do.

But somehow, he knew what he was about to do would work. 

Because if even you don't fully know what your next move is, your enemy sure as hell won't.

He gave the command to Rudania, and the tail started to swing. In an instant, with enough force to turn a Hinox into red splatters on the ground, Link was flung through the air directly towards the encroaching wave of skywatchers.

Sue him, he'd had a long day and he wanted to be part of the action!

He careened over the form of Ruta, and drew the string on his bow back.

He took in a breath as he felt time begin to slow. The Guardian Skywatchers around him seemed to almost freeze.

He released the arrow into the eye of the closest Skywatcher, before drawing another, and another, and another.

He had gotten to fire seven when the migraine of his time dilation ability finally caught up to him. He released his grip and dropped like a stone, hearing the arrows meet their targets overhead.

He had enough presence of mind to grip Ruta's command crystal and pulse a command to her. 

Just as he was about to hit the ground, he dissipated into whisps of blue light, and the next thing he knew, he was within Ruta's command room.

Instantly, he felt the shudders as Medoh's cannons impacted the shield repeatedly. The shield wasn't about to collapse, thank the Goddesses, but he knew it wouldn't hold forever. Ruta was having a mini panic attack about how close he'd been to falling to his death, and he had to reassure her he was absolutely fine.

He ran hard, clambering up and out of the ceiling exit of Ruta to stand beside the Guardian. There were only 4 Skywatchers left. The Guardian fired another blast, but the one it aimed for veered right at the last moment. The Skywatchers' full focus was on them, as they returned fire and aimed blast after blast into their shield, the explosions impacting a mere few metres from his face.

Of course, that meant they didn't notice when the seven Skywatchers he'd 'killed' rose back into the air. He idly noticed that only three were glowing ice blue, but the other four were glowing a lava orange. It seemed Rudania wanted in on the fun.

They all locked on and fired a volley into the Skywatchers from behind, which finally brought them down.

"Nice shot, you two!" He praised, feeling both machines preen from his praise as they tried to calm from the heart attacks they'd surely be having if they actually had hearts.

Turning his attention back to Vah Medoh, who'd yet to cease their bombardment, he started to plan. He had no doubt that if he simply tried to fly up there, he'd be anihalated by the cannons before he got close. 

He'd need a distraction.

So he got a little... crafty.

Astor had his hands folded neatly behind his back as he observed his attack.

The wretched contraption of Vah Medoh fought his every move, and the spirit of that infernal Rito proved to be a distinct annoyance. It was in vain, though. They were ultimately powerless to do anything that could really stop him, but their resistance most certainly drove him up the wall.

He gathered his magic, prepared to create a new wave of monsters. 

Now that the beasts had used up their charge for a massive energy blast, they'd be less than able to defend against the horde he'd been cooking up for less than an hour.

He was tempted to send the scourge of Medoh to handle them, but thought better of it. He was wiser now, and he knew not to lay his every card on the table at once. If things went sideways, he'd need a backup plan, and a bodyguard.

Speaking of the blight, he'd made a few modifications to the one that resided within the machines core. They had seemingly weakened over time, though he was more than happy to restore it to full strength.

He was distracted from his thoughts by the flaring of Medoh's shield.

An explosion consumed his vision shortly afterward.

It was most likely the hero's pet Guardian he had stolen from his masters command, though why it would uselessly cast a bolt at him was beyond him.

The smoke cleared, and he noticed two things.

One, the Skywatchers he'd sent to occupy the hero's attention had all shifted to peculiar colors. Two, they were all retreating to Vah Medoh.

Why?

He hadn't sent a recall command, and the guardians were incapable of any real complex thought, so why were they coming for him?

He then realized that a few were glowing the same blue of the fools Guardian.

Curses. He'd conquered his squadron!

He was about to re-aim the cannons to annihilate them, when a Skywatcher fired and obscured his vision. Then another, then another.

He tried to guess, shooting wildly with his weapons, only to realize they had most likely scattered and broken coherency as he wasn't hitting anything.

Then one of his cannons went offline.

... Fuck.

Since he evidently needed to do things the hard way, he'd begun his plan.

Ruta had been taking the beating like an absolute champ, but now was the time to lay the pressure off her. He'd jumped onto the back of one of the Skywatchers and took off.

He'd brought his new squadron (Which he totally wasn't squealing about internally, shut up.) to bear upon Vah Medoh. Aiming for the hooded figure that had yet to disappear from their perch.

He fired one at a time, keeping an array of smoke to stop them from being able to get a shot on him. Not that they didn't try, the cannons began to fire wildly in every direction, but Link commanded the troop to scatter, hoping to reduce the amount caught in the crossfire.

Once they'd breached the clouds to hover over Medoh, he'd quickly made the hooded bitch regret taking manual control of the automatic defences.

The aerial cannons didn't even fight back as he unleashed hell upon their batteries, taking down the defenses by force one by one.

He flinched when Vah Medoh wailed in agony, and felt Ruta and Rudania do the same. He offered his apologies to the Divine Weapon, and prayed they'd forgive him for it.

With the final cannon down, the shield finally guttered out. He didn't waste a moment, and dived onto the boarding platform at the rear of the beast. He only hoped the hooded figure remained, so he could split the figures head from their shoulders.

Revali liked to think he'd gotten over his... petty squabble with Link.

He'd thought long about what'd he say to the boy once he'd made his appearance to release him. Not that he had a choice, considering the Hylian had opted to take his sweet time waking up.

That was before he began mastering the divine beasts.

He felt Ruta fall to a different master soon after Link had entered, and Rudania followed suit.

He was prepared to rant to the boy about how obviously since his magic sword wasn't enough, he needed to take their weapons as well!

Then the hooded figure showed and began twisting his dear Medoh to his whim, and suddenly Revali felt very differently.

As much as it pained to admit it, he'd much rather the Divine Beast still be in control of the right side, then controlled by that filthy acolyte of chaos.

So he'd put his grudge aside. Just this once.

...

He was still totally making fun of him though.