I've been keeping this chapter in my google drive for about a year. It's been on AO3 for a while, and I'm just now starting to like the idea of sharing it with all of you on Fanfiction.
So for this crossover to work. I figured a brief summary of comparison is in order. In this story, we are on the planet Sera, but the capital city is of course, Hyrule and not Ephyra. The main set of characters will consist of the BotW cast. Although the Gorons, Zora, and Rito are now hylians. At first I wanted to keep them as their primary species, but I decided to take Nebulace's approach and make them human versions of themselves. Although the primary cast from Gears of War will not be around, I can definitely confirm three LOCUST characters from the Gears series will be here. Anyway also if you've read any of the Gears novels (Which I highly recommend.) then this series will be easy to keep up with. If not, don't worry, you don't need to read them unless you want to.
"This may be my last letter to you for a while. I don't even know if you're still alive to even receive these letters, but I pray everyday to the Goddesses that you are. Things are not turning for the better over here too. We're losing this war, and honestly I can't tell if we already lost. The only thing that keeps me out of bed is the idea of you still alive in that accursed prison. Just thinking of you helps me from feeling like a ghost in my own home. When you're in my thoughts things just feel better. I hope to see you again soon. Given how things are doing out here. I wouldn't be surprised if they started drafting the inmates."
-Princess Zelda of Hyrule.
The rattling metal and gnawing screams of convicts couldn't even wake Link Takanashi from his cot. The solitary room was dark even with the fenced ceiling above. The chains above rattled in the murky air. For a moment they could be mistaken for wind chimes, but when the inmates were reminded of their surrounding concrete Hell the idea at first glance brought them down on their knees. Or worse, their faces planted hard in the dirt till they could no longer breathe with the soil blocking their mouths and noses. Link of all people is the only convict that could sleep through all this shit and blood splattered on the walls. All the prisoners and guards around nicknamed him "The Hero of Sloth" or just "Sloth" to make it easy for themselves.
A loud menacing barrage of banging metal woke Link from his unusual deep sleep.
"Get up you maggot, you're here to suffer not sleep." Said the guard from the other side of the door.
Keys jingled along with rusted locking mechanisms to sing a bitter sounding screech called freedom. Yet the only freedom here is a chance to walk in the fields at the center of the prison to stretch out the prisoner's legs.
Link wasn't given a chance to get on his feet. The guard just snatched him out of the cot and threw him across the floor in the hall. Picking himself up with dirt and grime on his face he finally woke up from his sleep. Link's entire vision was hazy and his head didn't feel like it wasn't meant to be attached to his own body. The moment his head started to unravel and sync together he saw another guard with a fully loaded Lancer with dried blood along the chainsaw teeth. A few other inmates were with Link and the two Gears. The group moved along to the outside field with Lancers at their heads.
Outside in the prison blocks, Link took a seat at the most isolated bench in the darkest corner he could find. He snapped a spark from the nearby outlet and lit his last cigarette. A cigarette behind these walls was the best form of currency for anyone, and that's just for the guards. A single roll of smoke for the convicts is as comparable as a sip of clean water for a slave. Worst of all, Link was no exception to the shackle of this sense of unease. It's been four years since his incarceration in this prison. The highest and above all, the worst maximum security prison in all of Hyrule. Both inmates and guards of all levels including Link just call it "The Slab". To the public this is a prison and in some standards it might as well still be, but to the inmates and guards it's where war criminals and useless Gears are left to rot and die so the COG can have no regrets.
These days, Link barely had no reason to look to hope. The real irony for him in this prison is that no hope is why he intends to keep fighting through his time in the Slab. Hope may be dwindling for most in this prison, or maybe the idea of hope evolved into some twisted sense of an excuse to keep killing to live with enjoyment. Hope is whatever keeps the prisoners from hanging themselves from a noose made from their own bedsheets. Or more humiliating and probably just as desperate, forcing an armed gear to fire on them, and call it a mercy from justice. Link saw those incidents at least once or twice a year in these walls. Hope is something no form of currency can be bought even here. Link pulled out an old photo of him and Zelda he kept in his pockets. The idea of her alone feels like a miracle. Especially since the guards didn't notice or take it from him. He sought comfort from the photo by rubbing over it with his thumb. Thankfully the thoughts of Zelda helped him breathe calmer heaps of air.
Looking up into the skies, Link wonders how his friends are doing on the outside. The skies are as murky as the air they breathe, but it keeps them alive regardless, so call it an enigma Hyrule has to offer that has yet to be explained. Taking a big sniff of the air he smells suffering and adrenaline. The same scent could be mistaken for Imulsion.
The siren began to ring, signaling their time in the recreation yards was done. Now it's back to sleep for Link.
Link and the other two inmates were escorted by two different gears back to their holding cells. The center cell was Link's, and was kicked straight in. The first and third cells were sealed shut, and yet Link's door remained open for just a moment longer. He looked back at the Gear who has yet to shut his door.
"This came in for you today… It's another letter from her. Seriously, I don't know why she still writes to you. After what you did to her father." The Gear threw the letter on the ground and closed his door leaving Link in the dark.
Picking himself up from the ground, he took the letter and instantly stashed it in his pocket. The touch of the envelope alone made him feel just a bit better. That is until a sense of heavy tremors coming from the ground up sprang from below. Only one thing can erupt the earth with that feeling, and only Link can answer what's happened.
The Locust have arrived.
Sadly before he could do anything, the quake caused him to lose his balance and slip out cold on the cold, ghastly floor.
Link finally regained consciousness from his fall. Hours must've passed from what it feels, the sunlight was starting to go down. For Link, his mental clock tells him that it's somewhere late in the afternoon. Hoisting himself from the floor he took a seat on his cot and felt for the letter he stowed in his pocket.
After a while of sulking and worry, Link realized that it's awfully quiet right now. Normally there'd be some barking dogs or bemoaning guards with loud inmates. This was too eerie to be a normal day in the Slab.
That's when Link heard them, Locust drones are prowling the prison for survivors.
"Sweep and destroy!" A Drone ordered in his monstrous voice.
Link shut his mouth hard, the idea weighing over him that the Locust have taken the prison, is likely the only human left to be killed, and the drones are right on the other side of his cell door. With the Locust prowling, Wretches are bound to be nearby as well. Their screeches are hard to mistake, and not just because they're loud as fuck.
"When you're in my thoughts things just feel better. I hope to see you again, soon." Zelda's words popped in his ears from her letter last month. Her words started to morph into her actual voice that Link could almost hear.
About an hour or so may have passed, there was no sense of time anymore. It could've been less than thirty minutes. Link stayed in the best form of meditation he could muster in this dark cell. Smaller footsteps eventually creeped in range of hearing, and the funny thing about them is that they weren't as heavy and loud as the Grub's big feet. A light suddenly sprang from the door.
"Navi, rip this door." A familiar voice called to a familiar name. Whoever they were, they weren't Locust.
Link stood up from his cot and walked a bit back from the door just in case. The door finally popped open hard and the light from the other side revealed a shape of two men Link knew all too well.
"Link, brother? It's Devin. Is that you in there?" The blonde headed Gear asked.
Link stepped further in the light to give his friend some relief to who he was shown.
The second Gear with dark hair approached with a duffle bag over his shoulder. "Hey Link, It's Brandon... That's a nasty scar there, brotha… Still the silent broody type it seems." Brandon mentioned before tossing Link the duffle bag with his name on the tag, "Put this on, Link you're gonna need it..."
Link took the duffle bag to find his old osmium plated armor. Strapping his chest plate and pads, Link looked over at Devin with a spare chainsaw Lancer.
"Welcome back to the fight, soldier." Devin said while handing over his weapon.
Link took the rifle and checked the ammo. He took one more look at Devin before they moved any further.
"Fucking hell."
Link finally broke out his voice. He didn't want to admit it, but he forgot how his own voice sounded after all this time.
"Good to hear you can still talk. Oh, you'll probably want this." Brandon pulled out a green bandana, "It's pretty faded after your time here, but I figured it's better than nothing." Brandon finished as Link took the rag.
"Thanks guys." Link wrapped the bandana across his head. "Were there any other prisoners? Guards even?"
"Nah, it's just you. Impa pardoned everyone." Devin said.
"Is that right?" Link said.
"We'll bring you up to speed later. Let's just get the Hell out of here." Devin said as he advanced through the halls.
"Don't have to tell me twice." Link said.
Devin followed Link guarding their rear side.
It didn't take Link another moment to know what happened today. He and both of his oldest friends are now back together. A small smile crept over his face after so long in the Slab. He finally found his hope.
Funfact: The two OC's Brandon and Devin are some old characters I used to fantasize about fighting beside Link while he was in the Wind Waker games. The time of the Gamecube system.
Also if you want to check Nebulace's work, here's her Wattpad, Nebulace Finnclarkson
Anyway, hope the first chapter was worth the read. Please review and follow! It always helps me keep writing with joy.