Hello lovelies. Uhhh not really much to say about this except for a quick inquiry: how many of you would be up for a short story featuring the children of Empire's characters?? Namely Saval, Harsen and Tessen. More on the bottom.

By the time they reached Eventide Island, it was nearing dark. They'd passed over the hills, crossed under a natural stone bridge between a canyon, and emerged into a white-sanded beach. Ahead was the island, and on it, the House of Skulltulla.

Link shifted, as many of the anima were doing, and immediately tried to find that cheetah, confident he could spot her even in her human form. Then he remembered that panting after another tribe member was wildly against tribe law, and walked towards the island.

The beach was a growing crush of people; apparently, the news about a meeting had grown quickly. Or the Skulltullas had simply given the message all at the same time?

Link ruminated over this as he grabbed Midna's hand and dragged her through the crowd. Once they reached the doors, he forced himself to stop scanning over the tops of heads and settle down. The pull of the gathering dragged him inside, and darkness fell.

His eyes adjusted and he waited while the room cleared. He stood in an absolutely massive dark room, with an upper level mezzanine, and there was a table in the very center. A big table.

Seriously, Link thought, rubbing his arms, why was this place so big? Could there really be so many Skulltullas? Legend said they were impossible to number, which made him really nervous. He hated spiders even more than escort missions.

He didn't get a chance to wonder more, though, because suddenly, above the chatter of the crowd--honestly, the plains anima were truly the only ones who cared about boundaries--Midna grabbed his sleeve.

"I think that's the cheetah," she hissed in his ear, pointing subtly. Link followed her finger and saw a girl in a white outfit, and whistled. Midna smacked him for it.

Her clothes really didn't cover all that much, Link thought, a smirk finding its way to his lips. Her chest was covered and most of her legs, though a slit up her skirt exposed a long, tan leg. Gold bands graced her ankles and wrists, and a leopard skin was tied around her waist, secured with a gold belt. It accentuated her hips nicely.

Very nicely, Link considered, at least until Midna poked her arm.

She glared at him. "Tell me you're not making eyes at her."

Link scoffed. "Of course I am. Look at her."

"Uh, yeah. I'm looking at her getup. Who wears skins anymore?"

"What's wrong with my sister's getup?"

They both turned to see a rather angry-looking boy glaring at them. He couldn't have been older than Link, which meant he was around twenty, but he was kind of short, and had red eyes and pale blond hair. His arms were crossed.

Link shared a glance with Midna. He shrugged. "Nothing. If anything, she looks too good."

The boy's eyes narrowed. "And who are you to comment on that?" He cocked his chin up.

Link tried not to laugh. "I think I'm someone you don't want to mess with," he said, and let his hands drift down to hover over his knives. "Besides, what are you gonna do, shortie?"

"Leave, that's what," a girl's voice said, and Link was pleased to see the cheetah girl grab the boy--her brother--by the ears and drag him back. Then she took his place, and glared fiercely at Link. "However dangerous you think you are, I'm worse," she said, all crossed arms and squinty golden eyes.

Cute, Link thought. He smirked. "Oh yeah?" He leaned in, and to her credit, the girl didn't budge. "Prove it," he whispered, stirring the gold hair around her face.

She smirked.

Link was about to speak when pain exploded between his legs. He shouted and went down hard, grinding his teeth. Pain flared outward, starting at his privates and expanding until his whole body felt it. He thought he was going to be sick.

He panted at the girl's feet, holding himself, hearing the laughing of the other tribes, Midna's sniggering for all that she tried to hide it. He could almost taste the girl's satisfaction.

She leaned down and whispered in his ear, and he let out a whimper of pain, utterly mortified. "Are you convinced?" she whispered.

Come on, Link. You're a man. Well, half man. Get up! Don't let her win.

She was about to pull away when he summoned every last vestige of strength and grabbed her clothes, pulling her close. Her nose was touching his, her eyes wide with surprise. "I like a dangerous girl," he breathed, too weak to raise his voice further. But she didn't need to know that.

Her eyes widened, and he let her go, falling down to his hands. He faintly saw her clench her fists through the blackness in his vision, and for a moment they formed into her spots--and then he couldn't see anymore.

Link groaned, rolling over.

He hurt. Everywhere.

What happened? He got to the House of Skulltulla . . . saw a cheetah . . . talked to her . . .

He scowled. Oh yeah.

He talked to her, and then she kicked him in the nuts. He groaned again, this time in disgust. What was it with those plains anima? Didn't they recognize flirting when they saw it? Or where they betrothed at birth or something, like heathens?

"Probably the second one," came a nearby voice, and Link opened his eyes to see Midna sitting, one leg over the other, on a bed. He squinted at her. "If you're on the bed, then where am I?"

"The floor."

Link made a noise of disgust, sitting up. "Is that why my back feels like it was kicked black and blue?"

Midna was examining her nails. "No, that is because those lions from earlier mobbed you while you were down and I had to trap them in a cage to get them to stop."

Link was still a little delirious. "Where'd you get a cage from?" he mumbled.

Midna gave him a disdainful look. "Um. Kitsune? Hello?"

Right. "Sorry."

She sniffed. "Whatever. Anyway, the House said to stop fighting so of course nobody listened, and then they shifted into their animas, and so everybody listened. They sent us off to bed to rest for tomorrow's meeting and now we're here. Any questions."

Yes. "Where'd she go?"

"Who?"

"The cheetah."

"Oh my gods. Are you serious?" Midna squinted at him, ignoring his glare. She sat back. "Are you concussed? Did she hit you that hard?"

"Sunset."

"Howler."

Link groaned. "Midna."

She scowled, irritated at the use of her name. "What? I'm the one being reasonable right now. At least I'm not chasing after some cat with a stick up her--"

The door opened, admitting said cat. Link tried to sit up, but she was already sitting in front of him, her hands on her knees. Midna rolled her eyes.

"At least your asswipe brother isn't here."

The cheetah didn't respond to that--verbally, at least. She rolled her eyes, her gaze meeting Link's. He offered a lopsided smile.

He hadn't expected her to smile back, but he also hadn't expected her to look at him the way she did: blinking, eyes narrowed just so, her lips in a tiny pout. It confused him, and he tried to puzzle it out, but then she sighed a little through her nose and lifted her chin, all regal-like.

"I'm sorry I kicked you. It was uncalled for."

Link waited, but it seemed she was done. He shifted a little. "Is that it?"

The cheetah blinked, and then she was angry, her brows pulling together. "What do you mean, is that it? I came here to apologize."

Link held up a hand, ignoring Midna's snorting. "No no, I get that, but it's just--I mean, you came all the way here just to say sorry?"

Now she was confused. She stuttered a little, at a loss for words. "Wh--yes, I did. Is . . ." She squinted a little. "Is that not how you do things?"

Link squirmed a bit, her golden gaze searing into his. "I mean . . . not really. The pack usually just gets over it."

Her mouth formed the words 'the pack'. Then she nodded. "Right, you're from the eastern tribes," she murmured.

Something about the way she said that made Link uncomfortable. Like it meant he was uncivilized. The thought made his tongue sharp. "Yeah. Where we don't kick people in the nuts."

Her head jerked up, and her eyes narrowed. "Well, perhaps if you hadn't provoked my brother--" she began hotly.

Link rolled his eyes, annoyed she was even trying to defend it. "Oh, right, because that's a good enough excuse. He picked a fight with us, or didn't you see correctly?"

The cheetah stood, and Link with her, ignoring the sudden dizziness. "Because he's stupid and impulsive, and he heard you slandering me--"

"Did you just insult your own brother just to keep arguing?" Link demanded but it was losing strength, and his knees began to buckle. The cheetah's eyes widened and she lunged to catch him.

She was strong, he thought dizzily, as she lowered him to the ground. Midna watched it all with supreme indifference, but if Link had been more attentive, he would have noticed her hands clenched, her body tensed. Waiting for a reason, an excuse to go on the attack.

The cheetah let his head fall lightly against the stone floor, and she started digging through her bag--which Link hadn't noticed until now. An herb stuck through the opening, and the smell made him nauseous. He tipped his head to the side, gagging, and the cheetah noticed.

Her eyes flicked between him and the herb, whatever it was, before stuffing it deeper in the bag. Link was too dizzy to watch what she was doing, but whatever she'd gotten smelled really weird, and kind of familiar? He heard a grinding sound, and then she was prying his mouth open.

"Tongue out," she commanded. And with her hovering over him, caramel skin glowing, eyes focused, and telling him to stick his tongue out, even in his state, Link supposed rather gleefully that he ought to do what the doctor ordered.

So he stuck his tongue out, and she wiped the weird-smelling mixture on it. "Hold it there for thirty seconds," she ordered, and then packed her things away. Link counted the time down, and when it was up, he raised a brow at her.

Her cheeks were flushed. Hmm. She thrust her hands into her bag and pulled out a leaf, and wiped the mixture off his tongue onto it. When it was clear, Link closed his mouth, working his jaw. "What does that do?"

She glanced at him briefly. "Takes nausea away. Ginger root, chamomile, bit of lemon. You can also use peppermint aromatherapy."

Then she stiffened, and flushed a little. She stood quickly, and just before she left, she glanced back at him, once.

Then she was gone.

Link sat up, totally dumbfounded. What had he done now? Did she not want to tell him about her herbs? And what was that foul-smelling plant in her bag?

She'd noticed his reaction. Did she know something about it? Why did she shove it into her bag? His mind was filled with questions, but they all flew right out when Midna drawled, "Come on, lover boy. Get some sleep."

Link stood, surprised to see he wasn't dizzy, and stumbled over to a second cot that Midna pulled out from under the first one, ignoring her claims that "she'd just found it" and chattering to "get in bed, I'm not dragging your over-tired carcass to the meeting tomorrow".

He fell on the cot, finding it unexpectedly soft, and despite his questions, was out in seconds.

Midna's grumblings woke him.

He was used to this. What he wasn't used to, however, was the utter lack of sunlight in this place. It was unsettling. How was he to know what time it was?

Snarling a little, he rolled off the cot and strapped his knives back on. Midna was in her anima form, grooming herself meticulously. One golden eye opened to regard him before going back to herself.

Leaving the beauty queen to her business, Link ran his fingers through his hair a few times before giving up. It would never be anything but messy. He should know by now.

Dithering, he tried to entertain himself, but it was no use. He was restless by nature, constantly investigating noises and smells, even in his human form. He pulled on his hoodie, adjusting the knife straps, flexing his arms to release tension, but all it did was increase it. He wanted to be at the meeting, damn it, not twiddling his thumbs while Miss Perfection got ready for three hours.

It was actually only 45 minutes, but who was counting, anyway.

By the time she was ready, Link was already out the door, finding himself in a maze of halls. Doors lined the walls, and as he burst out of his room he nearly ran right into a rhino anima who was--thankfully--in his human form.

Link raised his hands against the rhino's warning glare and followed after him, at a distance. It seemed all the anima had naturally gravitated towards the same place--the massive room below. The tension was thick here; perhaps that was why he'd been so antsy. A quick glance at Midna told him she felt the same.

The going was slow but they eventually made it down to the table, where Link pulled out two chairs, staring down a snake anima. He and Minda sat, and he found himself inexorably searching the crowd for a tan face, for golden hair in a braid, a leopard pelt.

He found her after a few minutes, sitting opposite the table with her brother. Two lions were seated at her other side, and Link noticed with a scowl the one with the red mane. He had a stupid-looking pompadour, and preened like a peacock.

A peacock would have been more accurate than a lion, Link thought. At least a peacock gives possible mates some insight.

For a moment he thought maybe the cheetah was his mate, but as he watched and the lion said something to her, she rolled her eyes and turned her back to him. The lion was unperturbed, turning to his cohort and waggling his brows like, she's so into me, right?

No, Link considered. She was definitely not.

Wait. Why did he care? It wasn't like it mattered to him. Pft.

Link affected a bored expression, though he kept watching the cheetah girl. At one point she glanced over to see what her brother was glaring at and saw him watching her. Link's lips curled into a smirk, and she flushed, turning away swiftly.

It was then that, over the chatter of all the other seated anima, a hissing sound was heard and--

Oh gods. That cheetah might have to make that ginger mix again, Link thought, watching their host descend from the ceiling.

The Skulltulla was massive, easily Link's height, and as wide around as a tree trunk. His red eyes were creepy as all hell, and his pincers clicked as he regarded the gathering.

Link wasn't the only one uncomfortable. The cheetah had affected a neutral expression, though her eyebrows were crinkled slightly. The lion next to her was curling a lip, and he leaned over to say something to the cheetah. Her lips twitched slightly upwards.

Link felt a white-hot flare of jealousy and tried to stamp it down. It helped when Midna stomped on his foot. "Stop glaring at them," she hissed. "You're going to start another fight."

Link sucked on a long, slow breath. She was right. He was being stupid. Focus.

The Skulltulla was talking. "Thank you all for coming," he (she?) rasped. His pincers clicked. "I will get right to the point."

Yes please, Link thought.

The Skulltulla seemed to take a breath. "The land is dying," they rasped, and gasps of shock and whispers seemed to engulf the table. Link stared at the spider anima, glancing at Midna. Her amber eyes were wide.

Quickly, Link glanced at the cheetah. Her lips were parted, and her hand moved to the strap on her back. Her eyes were narrowed, calculating.

Link's own gaze narrowed at her.

"We have seen a rise in disease among the land," the Skulltulla said. "But it is not any disease we have seen, nor one we have a cure for. We thought it might just be a floral disease. But last week that changed. Now, it is affecting anima."

It raised a leg, and from the ceiling, a body was lowered, arms and legs wrapped in spidersilk. Cries rang out as anima covered their eyes and noses against the smell, and Link was shockingly reminded of the plant in the cheetah's bag.

Then he saw the body.

It was completely rotted, far further along than a week of death should have allowed. The skin was black and flaking off, bits of white bone peeking through. Bugs and maggots squirmed in the skull, and the clothes it had once worn were now mere scraps of cloth, as if the disease had also rotted the material itself.

"What is this?" an anima called.

The Skulltulla sighed, and raised a leg for silence. "I now must share with you the darkest part of this story."

It waited for silence, and when it fell, it said, "You all know the story of our origin. A disease ravaged the land, threatening to wipe out humanity. The Anima Triumvae came down from the heavens and bade us to bind with our chosen animal. Thus we sit here now, generations later."

"The disease died out in time. It seemed it had faded into extinction. But now," and here it gestured with a leg to the corpse on the table, "we have seen its return."

No.

Shouts rang out from around the table, and several anima stood up. The cheetah grabbed the lion's arm, pulling him down.

"How can you say that?" one anima shouted, the same one as before. "How do you know it's the same disease?"

"That virus was supposed to have died out ages ago! Why is it coming back now?"

"How many anima have already died from this?"

"How can we protect ourselves?"

The Skulltulla never got the chance to respond. The sound of ripping flesh was heard and several people screamed. Link's face drained of blood, his eyes glued to that black spear sticking through the Skulltulla's carapace, and then it was a madhouse.

Anima ran screaming everywhere, the cheetah leapt onto the table and ran to the Skulltulla, which was now coughing up green blood. A shadow rose up behind the spider anima, spear leveled, and the cheetah looked up, eyes wide--

Link leapt onto the table and tackled the cheetah. The spear slammed into the wood inches from his head, and from beneath him, the cheetah squirmed. "Get off me!"

She pushed him off and rushed to the spider, leaving Link sprawled on the table. "You're welcome," he muttered, rising to help her.

A laugh echoed over the manic crowd, and slowly they quieted, staring at a spot over Link's head. He pulled the cheetah back, ignoring her hisses, and took her chin and forced her to look up.

She did so, her protests dying on her lips.

A shadow was splayed on the wall, that dark laugh echoing once again. "You will not win," a voice said, casting over the crowd of terrified anima. "This is the will of the Anima Triumvae. They have doomed you all."

The silence lasted for about three seconds, and it was mass panic again. Link stared at that shadow as it disappeared, and as he watched a smaller shadow detached and darted away, down an empty hall.

Link leapt off the table and raced after it, drawing his knives. He skidded on the floor, chasing that shadow. It flitted from wall to wall, bouncing around. It was outpacing him, headed for the end of the hall, for the window, and Link cocked his arm back and threw.

The dagger slammed into the wall beside the window, a dark hand trapped beneath it. The shadow squirmed and squealed in pain, half in the window and half out. As it reached back to free itself, Link threw his other dagger. It embedded itself in the shadow's other hand, and then Link was there, slamming the shadow's head into the wall.

It wasn't a shadow, Link realized, but an incredibly thin man, clad in wispy black clothes. Link stuck his head near his throat, letting his fangs grow until they brushed the neck, and he snarled, "Who are you."

The room was a madhouse when he returned, minutes later, and suddenly a familiar warm hand latched onto his arm.

"Where did you go?" the cheetah demanded. "Why are you covered in blood?"

"Caught the shadow," Link gasped, yanking her out of the way of a rampaging anima. She was warm and soft against his side for a second, then she was pulling away, hauling him through the room. She ducked and weaved like a dancer, and then they slipped down an empty hall, where he found Midna and the cheetah's friends.

Friends whose eyes immediately dropped to his and the cheetah's clasped hands. She swiftly stepped away, clearing her throat. "You said you caught the shadow?" she asked, not looking right at him.

Link nodded. "Thin man in black. Created the image on the wall. Asked him who he was, but he killed himself."

He spat blood from where the bastard had punched him. Midna said, "We need to get back to our tribes. Now."

"Wait," the cheetah said. All eyes turned to her. "I . . . I have something you should see."

And she reached into her bag and pulled out the dead plant.

"Herbs," Midna said flatly.

The cheetah spared her a glare. "They carry the same scent as the body. I know you smelled it too," she said quietly, looking right at Link.

He nodded, feeling something in him shudder deliciously at her gaze. "It's true. Take a sniff."

Midna did so, skeptically, but when she raised her head all skepticism was gone. "When did you find this?" she demanded.

"Two days past, on the border of my tribe," the cheetah said, a little breathlessly. Link could almost see the cogs in her mind working. "Which means it's already reached the plains."

"Which means it's been in the Fields for days now," Link said, connecting the dots. "It could already have reached the forests."

He met Midna's gaze. "We need to leave," he decided.

"Take this with you," the cheetah said, and tossed something at Link. He caught it, glancing at her.

"For your nausea," she said, a hint of humor in her eyes. But there was also a message there, too: be prepared.

Link nodded, pocketing the ginger root. "What can I call you?" he asked, feeling bold and scared and exhilarated and utterly unsure. If he needed to find her again, he needed something, some name--

"Call me Spitfire," the cheetah said, and then she grabbed her brother's arm and disappeared down the hall.

Ooooh! Drama. I live for it.

So that story I mentioned above: it would basically be about Harsen and Tessen and Saval in their teens, all besties (but Harsen is 100% that third wheel that's just waiting for the other two to get a ROOM already). The three try to understand the war that their parents wnt through, and understand the hardships of a life they've never lived—but, like, it's more exciting and cool than how it sounds. Spoiler: remember how early in Empire, Zelda wanted a Royal Rental Program for the things in the Hyrule Museum???? Hehe. (It's relevant I swear, and cause for great hilarity)

But let me know how you guys like that story! (I'm writing it anyway lmao but still I love feedback and y'all are awesome sooo)

Review replies

To StJames1: the reason no one outside Hyrule caught the virus is because Hyrule is a sea-locked nation, big enough to be considered a continent, and to keep the virus from spreading beyond its coasts. Surrounded by sea on all sides, a virus doesn't have much of a place to go. Hope that cleared it up