Chapter Text
Link was already low on health, with no meals or even elixirs. In fact, the reason he was even ON Satori Mountain was to forage for more supplies. He usually knew better than to get too close to the Wizzrobe, especially when it was raining. It wouldn’t necessarily even be so bad to be electrocuted so violently, but he also got attacked by a Yiga while he was still trying to shake off the mental effects of getting struck by lightning. He was disoriented, which gave the Yiga just enough of an advantage stab him in the side. Link gasped at the pain that shot through him. He lashed out blindly, and the Yiga vanished in a flash of bright red.
Link was on his knees, gritting his teeth against the pain in his side. He looked down, watching red spread across his blue tunic. He tried to get back to his feet, knowing the worst thing he could do was stay still. He grabbed onto the rock beside him and shakily rose to his feet. He shifted his hand forward and took another step, though the movement caused another jolt of pain to pass through him. He dropped back onto his knee and clung to the rock wall, coughing up blood and choking back bile. He couldn’t give up now. He couldn’t die here. He couldn’t leave her alone…
Link didn’t make it far. His vision was blurry, his head swimming. He couldn’t focus enough, each movement taking every ounce of energy he could muster. He took shallow, wheezing breaths and wondered at what point he ended up on the ground. His last thoughts were of Princess Zelda before his consciousness slipped away from him.
݁ ˖Ი𐑼⋆₊˚⊹♡
The first thing Link became aware of was the sound of chiming- like little bells. He could feel something furry nudging his head and snuffling. Link groaned quietly, turning his head away and pushing back against whatever it was. He felt exhausted, his entire body throbbing in pain. He heard what sounded like a hoof scuff the ground, then was nudged by whatever animal it was trying to get his attention. He let out an irritated sigh before he opened his eyes to see what was snuffling at him.
Link never would’ve guessed what he was about to open his eyes to. Looking down at him were two pairs of eyes, with a long furry (nose? trunk?) between them. Above each pair of eyes were tall antenna that looked like the veins of leaves, or the feelers of certain kinds of moth. The creature was huge, with fur around its face and neck, as well as part way up its legs. Swirling and shimmering around its body was a pattern of swirls, circles, and dots. The two toes of the spirit’s hooves were a bright, banded yellow-orange pattern.
The Hylian’s eyes went wide as he realized what he was looking at. He gasped, scrambling backwards in shock.
The Lord of the Mountain. Satori. The protector of Hyrule’s wildlife.
This was when Link realized he on the shore of the small pond at the summit of Satori Mountain. He was laying on a bed of cherry blossom flowers, propped up against the root of the tree beside the small offering plate at the base of the trunk. The memory of what had happened to him came crashing back. He yanked his shirt up to look where he had been stabbed, but the sudden motion caused pain to erupt like electricity through his body, the stab wound acting as the epicenter. This pain caused Link to spasm, which brought Satori closer to him.
The Lord of the Mountain nudged his head behind Link’s back, as if to prevent him from hitting his head on the tree behind him. Once the spasm stopped, Satori moved around in front of him, folding its legs underneath itself as it sat on the ground, slightly curled. He looked from Link to his side, and back again. Link looked after him, his hand resting on his side. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the gesture, until several blupees came hopping out of their hiding spaces to swarm the Mountain God, cuddling up around and on top of him. One of them hopped between Link and Satori, as if it was beckoning Link over. He had seen blupees before- often even leaving rupees behind where he saw them as a little offering and apology for startling them.
Slowly and carefully- as if still afraid to startle them- Link moved over to sit against Satori. He tensed again gritted his teeth at the pain in his side. Satori lowered his head, sniffing and snuffling at Link’s side. Link had to lift his arm to make room for him. He knew the situation he was in, but even still he couldn’t resist stroking his hand down the mane of the Lord. Satori didn’t react much as Link buried his fingers in the soft, ephemeral fur. It was smooth, almost feeling cool to the touch. The air around him smiled like fresh grass and damp earth- like Hyrule field after a summer shower. Link found himself burying his face into the God’s fur, breathing in the familiar scent.
Satori carefully withdrew his head from the young Hylian’s side. Link shifted against the God’s side, his head still nestled into the mane of the Lord. His breathing deepened as he drifted off to sleep once again. Several of the surrounding blupees hopped over, sniffing at and investigating the young Hylian their Lord had saved. One in particular seemed especially interested, and ended up simply curling up on Link’s lap and drifting off to sleep itself.
─── ⋆⋅ ☾⋅⋆ ───
The next time Link woke up, it was dusk. He was laying curled up against Satori’s side. His awareness came back to him slowly, the cool air blowing across his face. He felt something warm beneath him and the weight of something against him. He opened his eyes slowly, first seeing the Blupee sleeping against him, and then the Nature God he was using as a pillow. He jumped, letting out a hiss of pain as the movement jerked the wound on his side. He doubled over, grabbing at his side. The blupee that had been sleeping with him started hopping around in panic. Satori nuzzled up against his side again, causing Link to tense up with the expectation of pain. Instinctively Link gripped at the fur of Satori’s mane as he tried to ground himself. He took deep breaths, forcing himself to breathe evenly. Link found the pain subsiding, bringing his energy with it.
Satori nudged Link gently up against the tree, who leaned back against the roots. The blupee came bouncing back over, wiggling onto Link’s lap. Link had to stretch out his legs to accommodate the little blue spirit, setting a hand on its back lightly to keep him still. Satori laid his head on Link’s lap, effectively trapping him in place. Link groaned quietly, but managed to drift off again beneath the soothing weight of the spirits.
── ⋆⋅𖤓⋅⋆ ──
Link woke up with the sun shining down on him. He groaned quietly, rubbing his eyes as he slowly sat up. He looked down at the blupee still on his lap- almost like it was watching over him in a silent vigil. Satori was missing, but there was a pile of fruits beside him. The blupee chimed like bells as it shifted and tilted its head up at Link. It hopped off his lap to the pile of fruit, nudging them in his direction.
”Are these for me?” Link asked in surprise, looking over at the little bunny-like creature.
In response, the blupee nudged them closer. This brought a smile to Link’s lips as he grabbed an apple, patting his lap for the blupee to come back over as he crossed his legs. The aches in his body had subsided quite a bit, but it still felt like his wound wasn’t fully healed. He took a bite of the apple, holding it in his mouth as he lifted his shirt up to check the puncture. What he saw made his eyes go wide, and he nearly dropped the apple in his mouth.
The skin of the wound had been closed and scarred over, despite not feeling like it wasn’t totally healed yet. There may have been internal damage, but that isn’t what caused Link’s jaw to drop. Starting from the large puncture scar was a pattern of swirls and dots- identical to the ones on Satori’s body. The blupee on his lap gently nudged at his stomach- the same way Satori had been doing- and Link watched as the pale-blue swirls on his body shimmered and glowed brighter with the proximity of the blupee.
His eyes were wide as he set his hand on the blupee’s back. “Have you guys been healing me?” he asked quietly, which caused the little spirit to let out a few chimes. Link smiled and leaned back against the tree root. “Thank you,” he said quietly, petting it slowly as he finished off his apple. He grabbed a second apple and leaned back again, feeling another wave of exhaustion.
The blupee snuggled up to him, it’s warm and comforting weight curled up against his chest. His breathing slowed, the apple he had been eating tumbling to the ground as he fell back asleep.
⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆