Life after Resurrection, Transformation, Reformation.

by LilacStarvix

Summary:

After the defeat of Ganondorf, everyone is trying to get comfortable with their lives, or aimlessly explore the ruins of the Zonai without the looming threat of Ganondorf, or in some cases, both.

Light fluff and exploring things and concepts I couldn't before, story does contain heavier elements and plot, but it is supposed to be more disjointed segments of the main crew's lives post-'game'.

Chapter 1: Good Morning.

Rauru woke up, a soft mattress beneath his back, a pillow under his head, but the blankets? Gone.
He tilted his head to his right, the thief of his blankets bundled up snoozing next to him.

Sonia.

Tightly wrapping herself in blankets, her left ear twitching in her sleep.
He sighs as quietly as he could and suppresses a chuckle as he slowly slides himself down the bed, trying not to bump her, or the freezing cold wall.
Shifting his weight as not to disturb his beloved, he sits up slowly.

As he goes to stand, he turns his head and pushes hair towards the wall.
Rauru did not want to make the same mistake as last time he tried sneaking out, when he woke her with his hair.
He began to walk slowly, making sure the floorboards didn't creak on his way, keeping his toes slightly lifted to avoid the clacking on the floor of the wooden loft that had become their bedroom.
Walking down the steps and into the kitchen.
The first part of his plan was a success.

Rauru began rummaging silently through the cupboard and pantry, grabbing flour, sugar and other ingredients, as well as a bottle of milk from the 'cold box' Purah invented and put into the lower half of the pantry when the house went under some renovations after Link and Zelda moved out to their new house overlooking Tarrey Town.
Shame that the guest house there was disassembled after that Grantéson fellow got back from his holiday visiting his mother at Lookout Landing, that was extended when Ganondorf was slain and he and his mother came to Hateno to visit his father, although he did end up helping with renovations after bumping in with some of his co-workers.

But back to cooking.
Silently making batter, Rauru carefully dices up some golden apples he had been saving for this occasion, looking back and forth between the bowl and the hand-written recipe book Link gave him as a housewarming gift.
Tossing the thin apple slices into the batter, get gets out the pan and prepares for the loudest part.
Cooking.

Sizzling batter breaks the silence of the room, as he begins to cook, looking back and worth anxiously with each flip and new batch of batter entering the pan.
Fortunately, Sonia doesn't wake, and if she did, she didn't get up.
Stacking his creations on a plate and said plate onto a tray, pouring a glass of hydromelon juice before walking back up the stairs.

Upon his approach, Sonia groggily sat up, blinking a few times before realizing what is happening.

"Happy birthday my love." Rauru coos softly as he puts the tray on Sonia's lap, she was trying not to cry, "I tried making pancakes, one of Link's recipes."

Sonia picked up the utensils, cut off a piece and took a bite, it felt fluffy in her mouth and tasted like apples, and a little bit of burnt, but she wouldn't tell him that.
It could be burnt to charcoal and she would still find something to love about it, even if it was just his love poured into it.

Chapter 2: Science!

Mineru awoke.

The past few months of her life had been a whirlwind, awakening from the Purah Pad, possessing a construct body that Link put together, her brother and his wife coming back to life, herself coming back to life, Link's transformation, Zelda's return throwing new information in the face of her studies of draconification, Ganondorf's true defeat, Rauru and Sonia moving into Link and Zelda's old house in Hateno, the house getting some renovations, Purah moving back to Hateno's ancient tech lab, Robbie moving back to Akkala Ancient Tech lab with his wife, then moving in with Purah after she offered her a place to stay.

Although compared to millenia of nothing, she'd do it all again rather than experience that loneliness again.

.

"Mineerrrruuuuuu!" Purah yelled as she barged into the Zonai's room, "You ready yet?"

The Zonai in question gives her a groggy look that screams, 'I am not.'

"Don't you remember the excursion we have been planning for weeks? The Zonai Survey Team are already waiting at the shrine." Purah says in an attempt to help Mineru wake from the grogginess clouding her half-awake mind.

Mineru facepalmed, before getting up from her bed, "That trip?" Mineru paused as she stood up, "The one to that ancient shrine?" 
She groggily half steps over to her closet, the plain black dress that had become her sleepwear is removed casually as she shuffles around for her undergarments.

Purah is trying not to stare at the back of the now naked Zonai. She is failing miserably as her gaze was fixed upon Mineru's rear.

After getting on her undergarments and picking out clothing, and preparing to get it on, Mineru turns around to see Purah standing there, face as red as tomatoes, the only fruit produced in this town.
Mineru realizes what she had done, her own face turned to blush, however it was hidden beneath her facial fur.

"I..I'm sorry, I didn't think." Mineru apologizes, "I've just been used to being by myself for so long, I just don't think twice."

"Thats... fine..." Purah mutters, "But you've uhmm, been living here for what? Three months?"

"You don't normally wake me, except for when you've stayed up all night working on something and it explodes at the crack of dawn." Mineru deadpans. "But I'd rather be caught naked by you than anyone else, if that makes you feel any better." She follows up in a slightly softer tone.

Purah just looked even more flustered than before.

"M..Mineru I'm not very good at this kinda thing, but I need to ask..." Purah's voice began to shake a little, "...do you really, like me that way, or is this... just teasing..?"

"I do, you're pretty, smart, good with machines, creative, kind-hearted and you like to push the boundaries of what's possible." Mineru says, looking to the side as she confesses her admiration, "Honestly I would've said something sooner, but I just, wasn't sure if you even felt the same way. I was worried that if I perhaps said the wrong thing, you wouldn't want to even speak to me again."

Purah begins to laugh.

"D..did I say something wrong, Purah?" Mineru says, a trace of panic laced her tone.

"Not at all! It's just funny, since I kinda felt the same way y'know?" Purah responds.

"So does this mean... we're a 'thing' now?" Mineru stutters.

"I've never really done the whole relationship thing until now so I actually dunno, but I think so, I mean, if you think so too, right?" Purah responds, slightly nervously.

"Well I think so, I guess it's official? We'll just, see how it goes for now before we tell anyone." Mineru suggests, grabbing putting on an outfit made up from recycled Sheikah clothing that Purah had no use for after fixing her aging ruin, despite the patchwork nature, it was rather seamless, an old shirt into a crop top, a short-sleeved lab coat with old fabric stitched to the bottom to add length, some pants cut up to make trousers.
It was fairly different from what she used to wear, but the navy, white and red was growing on her, although she does miss her levitating shawl.
Opening her jewelry box, she took out her bracelets and necklace, she took them back when Zelda showed her where her old was buried, it felt weird grave robbing herself, and her old stone collar that used to house her Secret Stone had her old skull's jaw halfway fossilized through it, so it was left behind. Even if it was herself, she did have her limits.
Last thing to put on was the owl-like mask that rested atop her head, remade after disassembling a spare crafter construct head and Zelda giving her old earrings after they started to hurt the muscles in her ears and wanted to help Mineru with remaking her mask-hat.

"Alright let's go onwards then." Mineru says as she walks to Purah. "My.. love.." She utters awkwardly, as Rauru and Sonia always say that to each other, so she felt she should at least try saying it herself.

Purah laughs, "Oh by the Goddess Hylia herself you sound so dorky saying that." She gets out her Purah Pad, after completing the software, all that was left was to start making more, her one was the first of such additional models, "It's cute." She utters.

Mineru remains silent and flustered, grabbing onto Purah's arm quietly as she maneuvers through the map panel on the Purah pad, warping them to the travel marker that was set up near the ancient shrine with a few small tents and shelters set up for the Zonai Survey Team to use once Mineru and Purah deemed the shrine safe enough for the archeologists to explore.

.

.

.

Upon arrival, the third to last person Purah expected to see was waiting at the camp, her younger sister, Impa.

"Oh, Lady Impa, a surprise to see you here." Mineru breaks the silence.

"I would say the same of you Mineru, but that would be a lie." The elderly woman responds. "I have been expecting both of you."

"Oooh really?" Purah asks, her curiosity piqued, "Whatever could've been so important that you dragged yourself all the way out here to wait for us for, lil sis?"

Impa tries not to roll her eyes at the end of that question, "Ever since I tracked down the geoglyphs with Link and stepped down as chief to let Paya take the mantle, I have been filled with a sense of wanderlust once more." she mutters, "I was in fact hoping to join you on your little excursion, do a little research and cataloging for old times sake."

Purah felt a bit mixed, she was hoping to do some research with Mineru on her own, for some hope of a romantic little outing, but at the same time she wanted to spend time with her younger sister, she truly didn't know how much time they had left together as Impa denied her offer to use the fully functional aging rune as she wished to pass on naturally.
That was a boundary Purah did not want to cross, even if it meant living another hundred years without her sister, it would be selfish to take something she cares about away from her like that, even if it was dying.

"That would be nice, something we haven't done since you first became chief all those years back." Purah reminisces. 

"It would be a delight to have your company, Lady Impa," Mineru adds, "I'll lead us to the device, just be careful of any damaged metal flooring in there, Zonai brass can be pretty sharp."

The three enter the shrine, wandering into the verdant gateway.

.

.

.

It was a little trek through the puzzling and unusually dim, ruined shrine before they found it.
A large open room with a massive stone contraption at the back wall, two pillars on either sides acting as vats for whatever resource is used for it's strange resurrection capabilities.
As the three approach, a control panel stands a few meters in front of the device, an oddity.
Manual control panels are not something often used by the Zonai, at least in Mineru's generation and the last dozen or so, as terminal interfaces were far more usable and reliable.

"What a fascinating marvel, this is the thing that gave your wandering spirit form again, correct?" Impa says, as she approaches the panel, taking a look out of interest.

"It is, I didn't get as good a look at it as I would've liked, as I was trying to peer at it's internals first by phasing into it." Mineru responds. "Which did cause it to activate before I could really do or see anything."

"I wonder how this thing even works, the stonework looks to heavy to crack open to have a peak at any possible runic circuiting or enchantments, let alone figure out what they'd do yet." Purah thinks aloud, "I mean it makes sense for how you got in there Purah, but how did Rauru and Sonia get in this thing, they're not exactly in the spirit magic league like you are."

A mechanical voice creaked out in Zonai, but a dialect so ancient that Mineru herself couldn't even comprehend what it was saying.
From the control panel, a construct-like arm floats out, the dusty green and orange disks levitating around the green-blue tendril of energy that holds it together, at the end laid a needle of silver.
The needle arm rapidly pokes at the Impa's arm, before she could even react.

"Ouch, by the Goddess I think this thing bit me." Impa blurted out in surprise, slight annoyance in her tone.

Running over in big sister mode, Purah goes to check on her sister, eyeing needle suspiciously. "Impa, you okay? Is it bleeding? Do you think it injected anything into you? Are you feeling woozy? Hurt? Aching?"

"Yes Purah, I am fine." Impa grumps, "I am already aching in the first place, most normal people in their hundreds do ache." She snarks.

The machine starts making noises, runes begin to glow as the pillars begin to glow and rotate, reminding Mineru of the top of power well compressors that refined crystalline charges.

The three watch nervously for a moment before the machine stops, a stone slab sliding out of the front of the device, extending till it reached the control console.

"I'll take a peak, incase this thing throws in more surprises." Mineru says, walking around to look at the slab, immediately gasping at the sight.

Impa and Purah walk over to take a peak too.

.

On the slab laid a sleeping female Zonai, with straight white hair down to the shoulders, wearing absolutely nothing.

However, out of curiosity, Mineru reached out with her senses and couldn't detect a soul inside the sleeping woman.

"Mineru, what are you doing?" Purah asks quizzically.

"Sensing spirits, whoever or whatever this Zonai is, does not have one." Mineru points out, "It is like it's an empty... shell..."  Her mind begins making connections.
Mineru walks up to the 'shell' and lifts open an eyelid, looking back to Impa's own eyes, back and forth. They're the same soft brown irises, although the shell's are much larger and noticeable compared to Impa's.

"Mineru what are you doing with their eye, and why do you keep looking at me like that?" Impa asks, dumbfounded.

"I think, that needle took some kind of sample from you." Mineru explains, "Using it as a basis to make a Zonai body, but since you're not dead, it can't pull your spirit into it." She rubs her chin, "That would also mean that somebody must have brought some kind of samples to this thing to bring back Rauru and Sonia, whether it be genetic samples that somehow survived all these years, or some artifact with a strong magical presence of theirs."

"Sooo what do we do with the souless Zonai body laying on the slab? Do we take it or leave it to kinda just die from not being able to do anything?" Purah asks, staring at the souless husk.

As if answering her question, the Zonai facility blurted out something else undecipherable to the group, Mineru runs to the control panel to make sure she can figure out how to turn it off incase it does something else morally dubious.

Looking at the inscriptions allowed her to better decipher what the machine is truly about, as ancient Zonai, like elder Hylian, is close enough to the most recent dialects of the respective languages to be able to read if you try hard enough.

A large construct arm grabs Impa. "Hey! Get off me you old clanker!" Impa yells as the arm lifts her into a compartment at the back of the device.
Purah is frantically trying to climb up and get back there to try and get Impa out as the machine whirs to life once more, the stone slab sliding back in.

As Mineru's eyes dart, trying to decipher what button does what.
The name of the device finally clicks in her head.
'Terminal Illness Treatment Centre.' It finally makes sense to her.
A device that takes a sample of someone who is terminally ill, creates a new body..

...destroys the old one..

...and puts the spirit in the empty vessel.

"Mineru do something! I can't lose her now, not here, not without the rest of Kakariko with us!" Purah screams,

Mineru tries to push an emergency button, but as her finger is about to press it, the machine turns off.

The stone slab slides out again, this time the Zonai body is fully dressed in Impa's clothing, her hat on the shell's face, concealing it.

Purah climbs down and Mineru sprints over to the body.

.

Impa started to wake up, that machine knocked her out, but at least Purah or Mineru got her out of there before anything happened.
She sat up, and the room lit up, or well, her hat fell off her face.
Her body didn't ache in the same way it did before, but it did ache, like she just worked out.
Mineru and Purah looked at her with worried expressions.

"Impa..?" Purah asked, "...is that you?"

Purah's question worried Impa a bit, "Yesh? Why woulfn't it bef?" It felt like her tongue was swollen, like it was too big for her mouth, but her mouth was also swollen out to accommodate it.

Impa goes to put her hat back on, as she does it pushes down some protrusions from the sides of her head. She looks at her hands, she looks down at her body.

"Oh, thatch is why." She deadpans, her tongue feeling a bit more natural than it did initially.

"I'm going to have to seal this section off with a warning sign, but Hylia knows that it won't stop the Survey Team from getting to curious." Mineru sighs, "I just hope that they don't get to close, lest the Zonai Survey Team name comes to describe what they are rather than what they're researching." she jokes.

Impa stands up, it felt nice to not have her joints screaming at her anymore, "It would be ironic of them to single handedly bring the Zonai back from extinction due to sheer curiosity like that." Impa adds.

"I'm sorry that you got scammed out of dying normally sis." Purah says, patting Impa's shoulder.

Impa laughs, "Ah well, the afterlife can wait a bit longer I suppose." She looks down the corridor, back the way the came, "Perhaps we should go pay Paya a visit, then perhaps go to Hateno. I've heard the dye shop has been working with Sonia to make fur dyes, I might need them to fix my forehead. It doesn't feel right without the clan symbol."

"But you can't even see your forehead, how do you know it's not there?" Purah jests.

"You just confirmed it for me." Impa retorts, "Besides, I can just feel it's lack of presence."

"Alright, let's go then?" Mineru interjects, "Before it decides to go for Purah next."

"Actually I wouldn't mind it that mu-" Purah begins to say.

"Oh by Hylia, we should just get going already." Mineru interrupts as she beckons the two Sheikah.

The two follow her out, to go tell everyone the weird news.

 

Chapter 3: Girls Night

Link was a little worried, she's never had a 'girls night' before.
Even after Zelda told her that practically nobody else in the group really has been to one, or been to one that's happened within the last dozen or so millenia.

Zelda was wearing something more casual, spending her formative years having to dress up fancy nearly every day has sucked the novelty of it right out of the whole thing.
But regardless, her outfit choice was stunning regardless, wearing her everyday pants, custom made open-toed boots to accommodate her talons and an oversized flowy blue top, buttons sealed at the back to allow her back spikes to jut out freely.

Link however did bother to get all fancy. A knee length short-sleeved blue coat, with handcrafted buttons made from the collection of Zelda's spike shards from her 'head empty era' as she began to refer to it as, lined with gold trimmings rested over a forest green dress that rested a few inches above the ankles, underneath she wore green fishnet tights, not that anyone else could see unless she lifted her dress or took off her tall, gold buckled, purple boots, an odd color choice, but combined with the violet leather belts, long waist pouch for her Purah Pad, a left shoulder pad and left bracer, the color stood out less.
When working with the design with Cece, she had the Master Sword in mind, she had the oddest feeling that she should take the sword to the girls night.

Zelda helped Link with her make-up, applying gold eyeliner she bought from Romah, the woman that set her down the path of confronting her feelings about herself.
Apart from eye make-up however, Link didn't really use any others, fur is generally incompatible with foundation and covers most blemishes itself anyways, Zonai lips cause lipstick to just stain the chin fur.
But eyeliner, lash extensions and eyeshadow were all things that did work for her, she even has a constantly closed eye to show off the eyeshadow. A soft blue for her third eye, and green for her other two.

Once the pair finish up, both with matching golden lashes, Link always liked matching her lashes with Zelda's.

"You're ready to go now Link?" Zelda inquires as Link fidgets with a few belts, making sure they're comfortably tightened as she takes a few steps around the room to check again, and again.

"Not yet." Link walks over towards her jewelry box, still verifying her belt boot straps tightness as she went.

"Link I know you wish to look your best, but by the time we get there everyone will have already downed three noble pursuits each and have eaten all the good Hateno cheeses!" Zelda grumbles as Link fumbles six earrings onto her long fluffy ears, each being gold with crystals made from her dragon spikes as hanging jewels.

"Alright alright I'm ready." Link says as she straps the sheath of the Master Sword to belt loops along the back of her coat, tailored specifically for the legendary blade.

Grabbing out her Purah Pad, Link warps her and Zelda to the recently built 'waypoint' residing just outside the Gerudo Town, not everyone wanted to leap off the tallest point in the settlement just to avoid the long trip.
Usually Link wouldn't mind leaping off the stone structure, but not in her current outfit.

She pushes the confirmation button, and the pair dissipate in blue light.

.

.

.

Rematerializing outside the front entrance to the town, under a little shelter made of recycled Sheikah tech, the two eagerly strut to the front gate, the two guards paying next to no attention to the dragon princess and her girlfriend. 

The pair take a right, then left, then right again, walking up the stairs to The Noble Canteen.
Furosa greets the pair and points them to the open area, where Sonia, in a white dress resembling her one from her times, and Riju, in her normal attire, were waiting.

"What took you two so long? Also please tell me Mineru and Purah are right behind you, we've been waiting for half an hour already." Riju states teasingly with mild annoyance.

"Somebody decided that fidgeting with her belt straps was something that required desperate attention, even when we were running late." Zelda replies, side glancing Link.

"At least we beat Mineru and Purah, those two probably blew up whatever outfits they were wearing and are improvising." Link says in attempt to deflect the conversation to the other of Riju's complaints.

"Pfft yeah, nice outfit though Link, I was half expecting you to show up in that old getup you used to wear when you needed in when I was young." Riju says, "Do take a seat you two."

Zelda and Link find a soft spot to sit on, "If I tried to wear that now, I think I'd freeze to death." Link laughs, "And what do you mean by 'young' you only turned eighteen like five weeks ago."

"Fair point, also why'd you bring the Master Sword? We are pretty safe with Ganondorf dead and gone for months now." Riju says, eyeing the sword of legend.

"Girls night." Link deadpans.

"What..?" Riju scrunches up her face in confusion.

"The Master Sword, from what I could gather is feminine." Zelda chimes in, "Especially after she talked to me a few times in the past."

.

Purah was running late as all hell, Mineru and Impa stood there watching the panicked Sheikah frantically don her fanciest labcoat over her least chemical stained shirt, with a short skirt, long legging and whatever pair of shoes weren't covered in dirt.

Impa was wearing some clothing from her youth, Purah took them to Zelda to help recall them to a more pristine condition under the pretense of Impa wishing to hand them down to Paya.
While the truth is, she wanted to wear her old outfit to surprise Link and Zelda, they're both still in the dark about her current situation, as most outside the Sheikah are since it has barely been a week or two since everything happened.

Mineru was wearing an outfit that was made as a replica of the one she wore back in her era, although nobody could remake her favorite floating shawl, which did make her a little bit upset inside.

Purah would've worn her labcoat from before the calamity, if that outfit didn't get blown up eighty-three years prior in an experiment gone wrong, grabbing her Purah Pad she rushes to her sister and her partner to warp them off to Gerudo Town.

.

"...and then his ears were doing that twitching thing when he gets excited, after I ate them." Sonia recounted her birthday morning.

"Yours are also doing that right now while talking about him." Zelda adds, looking at Sonia's ears wiggling at the tips as she goes on about her birthday morning.

"They are?" Sonia replies in mild surprise, consciously registering the sensations of the subtle movements in her ear muscles, "I haven't even noticed it before, oh Hylia this body oddly feels so natural yet strange at the same time." she says, looking to the sky for a moment.

"I know right?" Link chimes in, "Just last week I noticed th--"

"I'M SORRY WE'RE LATE!" Purah screams, getting an irate stare from Furosa at the bar counter.

Mineru and a Zonai that none of the others had seen before follow in behind the eccentric genius, the unfamiliar one's outfit was familiar to Zelda, and vaguely familiar to Link.

"So I see we had the same idea Sonia." Mineru jokes, remarking on Sonia's outfit.  

"Very much so, but who is your friend there?" Sonia asks, "Don't tell me you brought some poor soul back from the afterlife while messing with that machine."

"We actually discovered the true purpose of the machine, even if it was because I bumped into a button while looking at the control panel." The Zonai says in a voice familiar to Zelda and Link. "Stupid thing bit me with a needle, spat out this body before throwing me into the back of the thing! And then I woke up in this body."

"Wait, you bumped into the buttons? Impa!" Purah yells at her Zonai-ified sister, grabbing her ear. "I thought the thing turned on by itself! I'm going to have to correct four hundred and eighty two pages of notes!"

"It's embarrassing to admit that as the 'wise elder' that I bumped into something that caused such a ruckus!" Impa states.

"Arguing all night isn't going to make this a pleasant night now is it?" Mineru adds, taking a seat.

The two sisters stopped arguing, Purah sitting right next to Mineru, who puts her arm around her shoulder and rests her head atop hers, something Mineru enjoyed doing once they started being 'a thing'.

Impa sat with Link and Zelda.

"Sooo are you two finally dating now or do you just like doing that?" Riju asks Mineru and Purah, the pair look flustered, "Like we can all see that you two oogling at each other, it's not really any secret that you two, really like each other."

"Uhhm well..." Mineru starts, "Yes!" Purah finishes.

Mineru attempts to burry her face in Purah's hair, slightly overwhealmed by her emotions.

Everyone gives a comforting chuckle at her actions as Furosa comes over with the first batch of Noble Pursuits.

 

The group continues to talk into the early morning, everyone happy that they finally got to have a 'girls night' together.

Chapter 4: Warnings are a suggestion

Tauro was ecstatic, the Zonai Survey Team was finally allowed into that ruined shrine.

His crew had already expanded the small camp prepared outside the location, rain pelted his bare skin as he stared into the ruin from the outside, a crystal clear rift rimmed by lime-green flames separating him from the mysteries inside.
Nothing was stopping him from just running in there and looking for interesting things, unraveling mysteries and discover life-changing information.
Even if Purah and her Zonai colleague, Mineru, combed through here first, there HAS to be things that have been overlooked!

So he did as he usually did, and ran in without warning.

The portal made him feel weirdly warm and fuzzy inside as he passed through, like the soft morning sun.
Which contrasted heavily with the dark and dreary ruins inside, an oddity compared to the other shrines which were near-perfectly intact examples of Zonai architecture.
But this place was just as, if not more dilapidated than the ruins in Kakariko.

Regardless, his first order of business was to find any writing, to perhaps give an indication to the purpose of the facility, or directions, it was fairly maze-like in there.
Leaving a trail of twigs, branches and nuts he collected behind him, he wanders the ruins for a while.

Eventually Tauro finds something that's actually lit up in this place.
Some kind of machine with pillars on either side, with some kind of panel in the center of the room.
A sign sits in front of it however. In plain Hylian.

'Please do not touch this device, it is dangerous, it's effects irreversible, sorry Tauro. -Mineru'

Acknowledging the danger, heading it's warning, but choosing to investigate anyway was his favorite pastime anyways, so he wanders up to the control panel and starts writing notes.
Definitely an older dialect, some of the oldest he has seen. Perhaps that explains the decay of the ruins despite no obvious ways for the place to be damaged.
' 'Terminal Illness Treatment Centre' So some kind of medical facility,' Tauro thinks to himself, 'must be faulty for a warning like that to be in place.'
Tauro continues reading the control panel, dials and switches labeled with terms he cannot begin to understand, but writes down anyways.
'Genetic sample size', 'Manual/Automatic lifeforce detection selection algorithm toggle', 'Vessel preview time', 'Vessel preview toggle', 'Hair length match rate', and a big looking one with a silver needle pointing out of it labeled 'Genetic sampler arm.'
There was also a big red one labeled 'Power.'
Something that'd be threating to anyone who doesn't know that such word was used to mean 'activate' in many ancient Zonai texts referring to turning on Zonai devices or terminals, which reminds Tauro of how surprising it is that there isn't one there, perhaps this was made before Zonai terminal technology?

He lifts up the magnifying glass that he uses as a necklace, wiping any sweat or condensation off the lenses on the sleeves of the shirt he has tied around his waist before going in to look for any minute details, something he found out from talking to living Zonai that can be written on certain machines to be read with the third eye, as it enhances the details in their vision as a whole, like a magnifying glass, but without any distortion or cutting off the rest of the field of vision, in fact it extends it vertically somewhat!
Zonai biology was still mostly a mystery to the Zonai Survey Team, as they did not want to ask any invasive questions, even if it was for the sake of science.
Hopefully if there are any small writings on this medical device, it could provide some interesting notes about Zonai biology, as most terminal illness were internal.

Looking along the dials and switches, there seems to be nothing of note, nothing on the 'sampler arm' either, save the beautiful engravings on the needle.
Silver was not something he had seen in Zonai technology before, something absolutely fascinating to him.
Moving onto the power button, he sees something, it's pretty small.
But if he moves a biiiiit closer maybe he can make it out? Just as he thought he saw something, his magnifying glass hits the button. It was just some dirt or dead skin.

The arm springs to life, reminding him of a construct, before it jabs him.
"Ow, hey, don't do that little guy that hurts." He jokes as he rubs the tiny puncture wound as the arm retreats, the blood on the needle seemingly sucked into it.
The machine whirrs to life, Tauro watches in awe as the the pillars spin and glow a vibrant green for a solid two minutes.

A slab slides out the center of the machine, all the way up to the control panel. Explains why the controls were so far away from the machine.
He takes a peak over to the slab.

There was a sleeping Zonai on it.
If it wasn't for there being four of them pop out of nowhere, three quarters being the founding royals of Hyrule all of them apparently being resurrected from this shrine. The other being Link, a direct result of the arm grafted to her shoulder.
This would've been possibly the greatest discovery of all time.

Regardless he looks at the sleeping Zonai, a dude. A naked dude. He felt bad for spying on a guy in the nude, but he had scientific curiosities that he felt the need to fill out and there was no way he was going to ever be able to get the chance to look at a Zonai like this.
The guy was pretty muscular, seemed about a muscular as himself, black hair too. Even had a few white spots like him too. This was getting weird for Tauro, even the chin scales were roughly the same size as his goatee, the resemblance went from oddly coincidental to full on creepy the more he looked.
He shifts the hair of the unconscious Zonai doppelganger, lifting an eyelid. The irises were even the same color as his own.

Just as he was about to leave this horrifying device's room, something grabs him.
The slab retreats as he is lifted into a back compartment.

Some kind of device is pushed against his mouth and nose, which made him start to feel woozy, sleepy, losing consciousness and then, sleep.

.

When Tauro woke, something cold lay against his back, his muscles were on fire.
But hey, the machine let him go so he supposed whatever irreversible damages are done and he can get back to the rest of the team to share notes, or get a replacement notebook if the machine damaged it or anything.
He gets up, his body feels like it's balance is all out of whack so he looks down.

Where he expected soft brown skin, his eyes were met with deep silver fur.
Copper orange rimmed scales jutted from his hips.
He looks behind him, the slab where that unconscious Zonai doppelganger lay was empty and right behind him.
Lifting his hand to his face he felt a snout jutting from his it, to the sides of his head lay long fluffy ears, pushed downwards by his cap.
Feeling under his hair, at his forehead something squishy rested.

Oh by Hylia herself, that machine replaced his body!
At least he understood the 'irreversible changes' part now and why it was a medical facility for the terminally ill, it replaced the patients body to cure the incurable.
But it only seems to be attuned for Zonai, as his first hand experience has shown him.

Must be why Rauru's wife, who was historically known as Hylian came back as a Zonai.

Grabbing his notebook, glad that at least the machine dressed himself for him, he wrote down his experience before returning to the entrance following his trail back to where he came.

His colleagues were going to flip out!

Chapter 5: Putting the 'Zonai' in Zonai Survey Team.

Purah couldn't believe what she was walking in on.
Her and Mineru knew Tauro would probably push the button.

But not the whole damn team assigned to the shrine.

"What in Hylia's name is going on here!?" She shouts, getting the attention of everyone there.

"I investigated the machine against Mineru's better judgement, and I ended up like this." Tauro states, "It wasn't smart of me, but I can research Zonai biology so it's fine."

"It's fine..? Your WHOLE TEAM are ZONAI." Purah yells.

"I have just given them all several stern talking's, yet they still did not listen too me." Tauro sighs, "Usually they actually listen, but they got curious and I don't blame for that."

Purah inhales and exhales, and walks up to one of the survey team members. "Why did you push the button that was in the room that you were all specifically told NOT to go in?

"I thought the sign was only addressed to Tauro." They say, "It was a big red button, I felt the urge to touch it."

"I pushed the button trying to turn it off when the machine picked them up," A female Zonai interjects, "After they got up it stabbed me and took me in too."

"Those two scared the shit out of me and I passed out on the spot." A male Zonai gruffs. "They put me in there while I was out cold."

"You hit your head on a rock you died!" The first Zonai said, "Tauro said it was the thing that brought the first King and Queen back so I thought you'd be more appreciative of not being dead!"

"I only died because you two ran at me crying and screaming in a dimly lit shrine while I was ALONE!" The resurrected guy yells.

"The voices in my head told me to push the button, so I did." A random male Zonai adds.

"I saw what was happening so I tried putting a 'do not touch' label on the button, but I accidentally pressed it." Another Zonai guy says.

"Dave said he'd give me a purple rupee if I pushed it." A dark haired female Zonai says.

"I said a RED rupee a RED one!" A Zonai yells, presumably Dave, "I am not made of money!"

"I heard about what Link went through and I wanted to be like her." A female Zonai in relatively loose clothing adds.

"Nobody hear wanted to volunteer to model for my biology sketches without their underwear being on so I went and pushed it myself." An irate, half dressed male Zonai says.

"I uhhh just didn't want to be left out." The last member of the team says.

Purah facepalms, "By the Goddess you are all so irresponsible."

"Hey aren't you the Sheikah lady that turned herself into a small child by accident?" The Zonai known as Dave says.

"Y e s ." Purah grumbles. 

.

After getting all the records in order, and returning home.
Mineru sat at a table with a smug look on her face.

"They all pushed the button, didn't they?" Mineru asks with an 'I told you so' tone.

"Y e s." Purah responds.

"You know what that means." Mineru smirks, "One silver rupee for winning the bet."

Purah sighs and puts down her papers, handing Mineru a silver rupee before plopping down next to her. "I am half tempted to go in there and slam that button myself sometimes."

"I know you are." Mineru says, nuzzling her snout into Purah's cheek.
"I'll help with that paperwork tonight, we will find a way to better board up that machine later."

 

Notes:

Just a silly little idea I had.

Chapter 6: Bananas and Gloom.

Kohga was visibly irate, or well as visibly annoyed as he could be given the mask he and his clan always wear.
It still didn't fit right anymore.
That damn Princess's ruin looting lackeys have found his secret Zonai ruin shrine thingy, it's supposed to be finders keepers Ganondamnit!
He stomps in frustration for fifteen seconds.
At least those fools lost what made them Hylian in the process of looting what was going to be his third secret territory, even after that damn Link kicked him out of his house and out of the depths.
He was going to have to find a way to take over, or at least use the thing and get out without any commotion.

Because, how else is the Dark One, the Demon King, the one and only Ganondorf going to return otherwise?

He will find some way to get him right on back to his demony Gerudo man form later.
He has too.
It's not like he needed to find something like that either.
Kohga's grip tightened around the handle of the gloom sword that he brought to offer the device.
If some old rags from graves worked for the two he intended to be crushed by Ganondorf, a sword made from his demonic darkness given form should suffice.

"Master Kohga?" A footsoldier asked, "I do sincerely apologize for interrupting your glorious evil scheming, but the fools from the survey team have finally left the ruin."
Finally, good news.

"Excellent." Kohga responds, "Extra bananas for you when we get back to the hideout."

"Thank you for your generosity, glorious Master Kohga." The footsoldier bows, such a good and respectful lackey.

.

Kohga and the pair of footsoldiers he picked to come with him, sneak silently into the ancient shrine.

"I wish we got to cut through those ruin loving freaks," the up until now silent footsoldier states, "I wanted to see how Zonai bleed."

"It is for the best we didn't, lest we catch the attention of Link and give away Kohga's return so early." The respectful footsoldier whispers.

"Exactly, now shut up we're almost there." Kohga whisper-shouts.

Kohga took a sharp turn and walked into the room before him, "Alright you louts, keep an eye out while I work the device."

.

The time had arrived.

The Demon King was to return.

Kohga held up the gloom sword to the silver needle before slamming the big shiny red button.
The needle jabbed into the blade, Gloom seeped down the engravings of the annoyingly sharp device.
The two vats began to glow and rotate, runes spiraling and humming.

The slate slid out.

There he laid.

The unconscious new vessel of the Demon King.

Ganondorf had returned.

.

.

.

The first thing that came to Ganondorf's mind was exploding.
Not like the last moments he remembers, when his mind faded into inky nothingness after he swallowed the stone, like the distinct feeling of exploding.
He lost.
Didn't he?
Why was he here?

He doesn't know, but he feels oddly calm.
His memories scream that it is an unnatural calm, but his body and mind sighed in relief.
Like a kind of strange pressure lifted off his psyche.
Is this what the afterlife is like? Peace?
He always hated it.

Peace.

It seemed like a myth, a legend, something claimed to be an ultimate goal by the strong who acted weak.
It was something that he never understood until now.
Because he realized, he never felt at peace before now.

Why was that?
A cruel joke from a cruel world?
To make him never understand what Rauru tried to do with his beloved kingdom until he perished?
A curse?
A shadow of agony and hatred to puppet him into never understanding peace?

If so, who is he really? Not that it mattered. He was dead now. He couldn't move forward now anyways.
All his life came to accomplish is the suffering of others and an eternity of regrets afterwards.

.

"I've done it! I have brought back the Dark One! Hyrule's destruction is imminent once more!" Kohga yells.

Ganondorf's train of thought now rudely interrupted, he sits up.
Why did his ears feel so heavy?
Did his nose seem, wider than usual?
His muscles ached horridly aswell.

"Where am I? What is this place?" Ganondorf utters, his mouth felt like someone had stretched it out like taffy.

"In some Zonai facility, my Lord." Kohga utters, "I have brought you back from the clutches of death, after Link CHEATED and made you explode! Aren't immortal dragons supposed to be y'know, IMMORTAL!?" Kohga begins stomping in frustration. Ganondorf finds this masked stranger's behavior amusing, almost adorable in a way.
But his words were, thought provoking.
This concealed stranger, clearly someone that worships him in some form, has brought him back from death?
Had he been given a second chance?

"You're a funny fellow, what is your name?" Ganondorf asks.

"Master Kohga of the Yiga Clan." Kohga says, snapping out of his stomping fit immediately after hearing the man he has been worshipping all his life ask his name, "You can just call me Kohga, my Lord."

"It is, uhhm. Nice to meet you, Kohga." Ganondorf responds. He was never good with words, other than the ones he used to insult and taunt his enemies with.

"It is truly an honor, even if this body the infernal damnable crusty Zonai technology made you couldn't imitate even a fraction of your true form." Kohga stomped, looking at the buff Zonai form built by the device, he still looked magnificent.

Ganondorf looked down at his hands, fur and claws. Ironic. His Demon King form gifted by the stone he once wielded imitated some aspects of the Zonai, to show Rauru true strength and power.
But here, all of it was given to him.
He put his hands together and rubbed his thumbs over each other. Zonai fur was softer than he expected. It felt nice. Nicer than obsidian flesh that was for sure.

"That explains the heavy ear feeling." he utters, fidgeting with his new ears. They were soft.

"If you cannot bear this body while we find a way to get it the way your old one was, you can take out your anger on any of my lackeys." Kohga says.

Ganondorf stands up, he must be taller than Rauru now, he walks around for a bit, scratches his scale-beard. "I think I can manage."

"My Lord, I do not wish to rush you, but we probably should get going to the Yiga hideout soon." Kohga mutters, "The fools at the Zonai Survey Team could've decided they left a spoon or something behind and come back for it any second."

Not feeling ready to be poked and prodded at by the rest of the world just yet, even if he deserved it at the minimum, he nodded, "We shall leave for your hideout at once."

Kohga nods and enthusiastically begins leading the big burly 'Zonai' man back towards the entrance, he was so excited his ears felt as if they were trying to worm their way out of his hood.

 

Chapter 7: Bittersweet.

Rauru had just finished hunting some game, him and Sonia were running low on meat as of the last few days so he decided to indulge in some hunting.
It was something he's enjoyed since his younger years, going out into the wilderness, exploring for a bit, finding some wild deer or boar and hunting them down to bring home some food for a family feast.
He had to stop doing it, as often, after founding Hyrule with Sonia.
But since being given a second chance at life, he had been able to hunt more often and freely, as well as just explore.
He, Link and Zelda all had that in common, the desire to explore and see the world and it's histories.
Already having harvested the hide and cuts of meats he wanted from his prey, he left the carcasses behind to feed scavengers and return nutrients to the local soil, taking what he needed and letting nature have the rest.

Making sure to wash the blood of himself first, as last time Sonia went on about staining the new rugs she got.
Thankfully Sayge at the Kochi dye shop gave him a discount when removing the stains and dyeing the parts that he couldn't get out, he still had to find things to make the dye with, which was a little bit of a hassle, but worth it.
His ears wiggled as he approached the front door of him and Sonia's home, excited to see her reaction to his fresh game.

Only when he got inside he heard her sobbing.

"Sonia? Are you alright my love?" He calls out as he approaches her.

"R-rauru? You're home already?" Sonia calls out mid sob.

"I am, but something has clearly upset you and that is much more important than venison." Rauru replies, sitting down next to his beloved, rubbing her back with his right arm.

"I-I just, realized that it's our daughter's birthday today Rauru." Sonia says, her voice shaking a little.

Rauru's face drops, his ears drooping as he looks to the nearby calender, "So it is..." he says somberly, his backrub turning into a one armed hug.

"We... never got to see her grow up..." Sonia sobs, tears running down her cheeks as her ears slowly lower themselves out of instinctual reaction to her emotions.

Rauru remains silent, not knowing what to say as pent up, unresolved feelings and thoughts bubble in his mind as Sonia speaks.

"...never got to see her fall in love..." Sonia mutters, tears streaming down the bridge of her snout, "...never got to see her find her passions.... her coronation... oh by Hylia, we never got to see her start her own family..."

At this point Rauru was sobbing too, pulling Sonia into a full on hug as tears streamed down his face, fur roughened up salty tear residue as he cried, burring his face into Sonia's hair.

"...and we were taken from her..." Sonia cried ,"...she never got to have her mother to guide her and her father to watch over her... she had to navigate the world with no family left.... not even her aunt or descendant there to do anything...."

Rauru's grip tightens, "She.... wasn't even old enough to remember us... just three years old... our baby girl..." He utters, in a defeated tone.

"It's just... just... so....   unfair...." Sonia utters, "She was just a toddler, she didn't deserve to grow up alone."

Rauru sniffles, nestling his face deeper in Sonia's sandy blonde hair.

Sonia inhales and exhales sharply, calming herself down a bit, "I was happy to be back alive with you, happy to meet Link, determined to finally stop the man who ruined and took our lives. But, I just can't help but miss her, even if we had something to bring her back, she'd be just the same age biologically as us, a grown woman with her entire life behind her. A life that didn't involve us, what right do we have to strip her from the afterlife? She'd lose all memory of it like us, she wouldn't remember if we did make up for lost time just like we can't remember if we did."

"I tried moving on and forgetting, hoping that just maybe if I pretended long enough, it wouldn't hurt anymore." Rauru sobs from Sonia's hair, "It has just made me feel all the more hurt and empty now, hollow and only full of thoughts of what could've been."

"I'm sorry I brought down the mood like this Rauru." Sonia apologizes somberly.

"Don't be, I think we both needed this." Rauru replies, lifting his head from Sonia's hair, pulling back to meet her gaze, wiping a tear from beneath her third eye. "Moving on never hurts any less, the last few weeks of my life living without you still hurts me to this day, even though you're right here in front of me again."

"It'll never stop hurting, won't it?" Sonia replies.

"No, but it will get easier to live with" Rauru states, "Perhaps, even one day, it'll get to the point where we can try again."

Sonia smiles, "Perhaps..."

The pair gently press the bridges of their snouts together.

"I love you Sonia." Rauru utters softly.

"I love you too, Rauru." Sonia responds in a gentle voice.

 

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of TotK Ressurection AU