Nayru's Red String
The love that ties us together…
Love was something Nayru valued very highly in the human life. It was because of this reason that she tasked herself with tying a red string around the pinkie fingers of two destined lovers so they may always find each other.
Every day, Nayru would watch over Hyrule and wonder, "Who should I tie together today?" and then she would cut a length of red string from her spool (this spool was enchanted to provide an endless supply) and tie the future lovers together.
She enjoyed watching the people following their string until they met the person at the other end. She adored seeing one share a special bond with another. How she loved love.
The strength of this red string of fate could also define the strength of a relationship; if a string was hard to break, so would be the couple's relationship. If it were too weak, it is likely for the lover's bond to sever.
This string never made any love eternal. Sometimes the string would tangle and, if the two lovers were able, they could untangle it; at other times Nayru would be forced to use her scissors to cut the string and end their relationship.
Occasionally, one would fall and the thread would rot away from over-exposure to their blood and the lover's tears.
Although it hurt Nayru to sever the strings, she knew it was for the best and that her string would be more of an imprisonment rather than a connection otherwise. However, the goddess would always take broken ends and tie them together to draw two people together into a new relationship.
"For one to not be loved is to be one who has been abandoned," she once said, "Love from others restores love to one's self; it reminds us of how lucky we are to be alive. We must love to live; we must live to love."
Thank-you for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoyed this one-shot :)
For anyone reading this who may not know, 'The Red String of Fate' is a Japanese myth about a Shinto god in charge of couples and relationships who ties a red string around the pinkie fingers (or, in the Chinese version, the ankles) of two destined lovers. This has always made sense for me because I find it to be amazing that so many people are able to find their "perfect" match. Also, if you look at the string from a metaphorical perspective, (as I have done in this small work) it just describes relationships so well!
I do believe Nayru to also be the goddess of love because of the spell in OoT called 'Nayru's Love' and she just seems the most likely to associate herself with it since love can be a very philosophical topic (not saying that the other goddesses don't associate themselves with love :P).
I'd love to hear your opinions on this one-shot as well as what you think of the red string being in the LoZ universe so please tell me in a review ;)
Goodbye!
- Scarlet Curls
UPDATE: I have had people asking me to extend on this one-shot with some of my favorite ships. This was intended for the readers to build upon with their own ships, preferably the ones they see the red string in (pairings where the shipper is certain that they exist in the LoZ universe and they believe it to be cannon). I made this one-shot open to all red string ships for this reason and have no intention of extending upon it myself.
Another thing to note is that the red string concept does not apply to all the ships you may support. I ship many different pairings but I only see the red string in about four of them. The other pairings I like hold potential with the possible issues that would arise in those relationships (these issues are caused by cannon). They are not hinted much/at all in the games which is why there is no red string (there may be an exception for very few pairings).
I would like to write works that welcome all ships so please do not ask me to do any pairings in this particular fanfiction. This is meant to encourage red string ships so please think hard about what you support and ask yourself, "Can this possibly be cannon? Are these two characters compatible? Do I see a depth in their relationship?" It is a difficult concept due to all the loop holes and everything but those are the basic rules. Remember, you have to be completely honest with yourself in deciding this but the basis is that you can feel the relationship and support it for reasons of the compatibility of a couple's personalities. If the red string concept is to be shared, I would appreciate it if it were accurate.
Thank-you and happy red string shipping! :D
