Bent Until Broken

Good evening and Happy Thanksgiving! Just a little one-shot inspired by Link losing all but a quarter of a heart today when I was crushed by the stone block in the Daqa Koh shrine. Something for you to read while I work on other writing projects; there will probably be many other one-shots coming out in the near future, so be on the lookout for those! On another note, the slave-Link story is so far winning the poll; thanks to everyone who voted! The poll's still up, and will continue to be up until my current writing project is finished and I can turn to longer fanfiction stories again - let me know what YOU want to see next! Enjoy!

"To you who sets foot in this shrine… I am Daqa Koh. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial: Stalled Flight."

Link had just snatched the hundred rupees from the shrine's lonely treasure chest. He turned back, eyeing the twenty foot drop back down to the floor with apprehension. The platform was much too small to allow a single misstep.

Swallowing tightly, forcing the nausea bubbling up in his stomach at the sight of the drop, he reached around to his back and carefully undid the buckles fastening his paraglider to his back. Slowly, trying not to look down as the massive stone block in the center of the puzzle room crashed mercilessly back down once again, he unfolded the sturdy bundle of cloth and slid the wooden supports into place before holding it above his head.

And jumping down.

The familiar sickening jolt as he fell for a moment before the enchanted glider thickened the air around it and allowed him to soar forwards and downwards forced his eyes shut for a moment, his grip tightening on the handles, before his body once again readjusted to the weightless sensation of flying.

Oh, how Revali would laugh if he knew, Link shuddered, prying his eyes open again. The Hylian Champion is scared to death… of heights.

He could almost see the Rito man smirking arrogantly down his beak at him. But a sudden crash, earth-shatteringly close, snapped him back to reality - the stone block had landed once again. Right! Time to land! He bit his lip, focusing, soaring ever closer to the platform; he could tell that he was still several feet above it, high enough to gently touch down on its rugged surface when he drew near enough. But then the platform surged upwards, sending the stone block flying once more, a second before Link would have landed. He heard an electric crackle, and knew what would happen next.

For a split second he deliberated - drop to the ground, still some fifteen feet below, and try to run, or try to change his trajectory fast enough - and by then it was too late. The ruthless stone crashed down on his body, smashing him to the ground, and everything went suddenly black.

"..."

"..."

"Link…"

"Link!"

He couldn't breathe. His head ached; something was stabbing into his lungs, and his legs… he couldn't even think about them at the moment. Something warm and wet was soaking his clothes.

"Link! C'mon, little guy - you gotta get up!"

Daruk's voice, uncharacteristically full of fear, echoed in his weary mind. Feebly he he opened his eyes, only to see a confusing world of smears of red and pale green and earthy brown. Daruk's ghost… protecting me…

He blinked slowly, and his vision cleared. He was lying on his back, limbs splayed at unnatural angles, bones protruding here and there, ribs rising in bloodied lumps from his chest. And above him… the stone block, falling down once again. Link cringed, slamming his eyes shut, bracing himself for an impact that never came. Heart racing erratically, he looked up; Daruk's shield was holding fast, and stone pressed down mere feet above his head.

"I don't know how long I can keep this here!" Daruk protested. "You have to move!"

Can't, Link thought, sucking in an agonized breath. He glanced once more at his limbs, all of them very much broken. He felt the floor beneath him shoot him and the block skyward; when he fell back down he could barely feel the impact - Daruk's shield surrounded him like a massive pillow and gently lowered him to the ground.

But he could see cracks in the shield now, and Daruk was still looking at him fearfully. Since when has Daruk been afraid of anything?

Link swallowed down the blood in his mouth and forced another breath through his battered lungs before gathering what shreds of strength he had left and rolling onto his stomach, gritting his teeth as waves of agony smashed through his broken body. Blood dripped from his mouth to his gauntlet below, staining it crimson as the floor shot upwards once more and the world rushed out from beneath him - Merciful Din, I'm gonna be sick - and once more, Daruk's shield caught him, but the cracks widened.

Link forced his limbs to move, whimpering as he felt shards of bone scraping against each other and his clothes and his floor, which was growing slick from his blood. Grinding his teeth together he dragged himself half a pace forwards, closing his eyes against the tidal wave of agony roughly grating over his broken body. The floor shot him upwards again and nausea fluttered slowly up from his stomach at the weightless sensation; he shot his eyes and did not open them until he felt motionless once again. Then he pulled himself onwards, limbs trembling and tears burning in his eyes as he slithered like a worm over the floor tiles.

The next time the stone block crashed down, it missed him entirely.

Link was content to rest for a while, but Daruk wouldn't have it. "My shield takes damage every time you hit the floor," he protested. "I'd carry you if I could, little brother, but… I can't. I'm just a spirit; I -"

He was cut off abruptly as the floor shot him upwards yet again. Link bit his lip hard as he tumbled back down; then he stretched his twisted limbs forwards and dragged himself over the smooth ground - smooth, and yet it felt like sandpaper to his crushed, broken body. A tear trickled down his cheek and he pulled himself forward once more, his fingers brushing the edge of the wall before the floor hurled him upwards.

And this time, Daruk's shield shattered, and the Goron's spirit put his head in his hands.

Link pushed himself forwards, leaning up against the wall. Last chance. One more hit and I'm dead.

The floor vaulted upwards and he stretched out both arms; as he fell back down he snatched the edge of the wall, screaming as his splintered arms supported his entire weight. Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop!

Agony burned through his veins as he clutched at the wall's edge, lacking the strength to pull himself up yet too stubborn and desperate to let go. His breath stilled in his lungs; he clenched his teeth tightly together and narrowed his eyes before forcing his legs to move, sticky blood-streaked boots catching on the wall and giving him the friction he needed to push himself up. Link rolled onto his back, shuddering from the pain of it all, and promptly lost consciousness.

Daruk wrung his hands anxiously, his spirit lingering. It had taken a lot for him to push past the Sheikah enchantments surrounding the shrine in order to help Link in the first place; now, though Rudania was calling him, he remained by the hero's side, fear tingling up his spine. What now? The exit to the shrine was still quite a ways away; Link had already used up much, if not all, of his remaining strength to make it out of the pit.

And now… Now he might never wake up again.

Daruk frowned; he couldn't let that happen. Determined, he muttered a prayer to Farore, begging her to keep him alive until help arrived; then he left the shrine and emerged into the familiar cozy warmth of Death Mountain. Looking around, he scratched his chin, thinking hard. Now, if I remember right, there's a young brother who knew a thing or two about shrines. He might be able to help.

Gonguron was his name. He was down the hill, quite a ways from the Daqo Kah Shrine, hard at work mining down in Gorko Tunnel when Daruk found him, explained the situation, and all but pulled him out of the tunnel and towards the shrine.

"Goro!" Gonguron gulped when he saw the shrine. "The secret of the hero - amazing!"

Daruk nodded encouragingly. "I know, buddy - but the hero himself is right inside, like I said, and we need to get him to safety fast!"

"Right!" Gonguron shook himself and hurried forward, stepping onto the circle within the shrine's entrance and gasping as it slowly lowered into the puzzle room beyond.

Link was still unconscious, sprawled askew on the tiled floor, blood on his lips and nose and tears staining his cheeks. His battered, bloodied chest just barely rose with feeble breaths. Gonguron swallowed nervously and quickly gathered the young man into his burly arms, wincing as something crunched. Then he quickly made his way towards the exit, but Daruk stopped him. "Wait - it's too hot for him out there! He'll catch fire!"

Gonguron paled visibly. "Wh-what do we do, then?"

Daruk frowned, scratching his bearded chin. "If we had any wood… and a fireproof lizard, and a bit of monster bone…" His eyes settled on the ruined mess of Link's paraglider, and he remembered seeing moblins and a few lizards just outside the shrine… He turned to Gonguron and smashed a fist into his hand. "Whadda you say we see a little action?"

Only a few minutes later they were cooking a lizard with a moblin horn in Link's shield over the smoldering ruins of the paraglider. Daruk paced anxiously, watching the sun slip closer to the horizon; the instant the liquid turned a murky dark brown they raced back into the shrine and poured it down Link's throat. Though they'd been cooking it over a healthy fire, the mixture was still as cold as ice, thanks to the lizard's special properties; when Link had unconsciously swallowed it all Gonguron carefully picked him back up and carried him out of the shrine.

He sprinted all the way back to Goron City and they carefully set him down on a nice rocky bed at the inn. With Vah Rudania calmed and Death Mountain happily burbling away, no longer on the verge of a cataclysmic eruption, the city had seen an influx of tourists in only the past few days. Among them… an older gentleman researching the potential health benefits of Goron spices. A man who, fortunately, had an extensive background in medicine. Though Link was on the verge of death, this man, named Lester, was able to put his bones back into place and brew a special potion that eased the pain. Link remained unconscious for days and weeks afterward as his bones slowly knit back together; Gonguron was promised that the hero would pay him back for all of the fireproof elixirs purchased on his behalf.

Link was baffled when he awakened, smelling soot and sulfur in the air and feeling heat pressing uncomfortably all around him. But even more puzzling was the lack of agony in his limbs. There was a dull ache, of course, all throughout his body, and he could feel tight bandages curling over each of his limbs and his chest. He felt inexplicably drained, sucked dry of energy and strength; with a heavy sigh he closed his eyes and rested his head back against the uncomfortable rock beneath him.

"Ah! G'morning to you, young'un!"

Link forced his weary eyelids apart, greeted by the view of a droopy-faced Goron smiling down at him. "Morning," he croaked, wincing as his unused vocal cords vibrated for the first time in what must have been ages.

"Glad to see you lookin' so chipper!" the Goron grinned. "O'course, the best thing after a few weeks of bedrest is… a nice massage, to loosen up those stiff muscles!"

Link went pale as the Goron cracked his knuckles. "Wait!"

But the Goron's friendly grin only widened. "No worries! It's on the house!"

And he brought his massive hands down.