Prompt No.14
Word count: ~810
Universe: Breath of the Wild
Pairings: Zelink
Rating: K
Themes: Torture, mind probes

Tear-stained

They dragged Zelda through the the narrow crevices of the canyon, lit by a spattering of torches that made the passageways taste of smoke and sand, wrists bound and heart sputtering. When the trail led her straight into the Karusa Valley, she knew it was foolhardy to go in after him. But he had already been missing twelve days, and the thought of leaving him in that place for longer…

Her capture had been swift. But when she demanded to see him, they surprised her by agreeing.

They finally arrived at the small, dark cell where he was being held, and forced her inside. He was on his knees, his eyes empty and blown, and a Yiga stood at his back, hand outstretched, palm open, toward the back of his skull. His face was expressionless, streaked with dust and tears. He exhaled, trembling violently, and the fire in her gut dampened.

Yiga arts were more elegant than most people knew. Even without a master to serve they were dangerous, and motivated beyond reason. She wasn't stupid enough to attempt to talk them out of it.

She whispered, "What are you doing to him?"

"Combing his memories," the captor at her shoulder murmured, his voice shrouded by his mask. "Sifting through time. Looking for answers."

The Yiga torturing him coiled his hand gently, little more than a turn of his fingertips, and Link lurched, more tears spilling out of his eyes with a breathless gasp.

Her face twisted into a bitter frown. "You're tearing his mind apart."

He tilted his head, conceding, and she wrenched free of his grip. She went to her knees, trying to reach him, whispering his name desperately. But he didn't answer. He didn't seem to know she was there at all.

"He can't hear you," the Yiga at his back murmured, sounding distant himself. "He sees what I tell him to see. He hears what I tell him to hear. He lives in the past, in the pieces of it that I force him to show me."

"Link," she said again, cupping his face with her bound hands, and he hissed softly, overstimulated.

She rocked back on her ankles, at a loss. His whole body shook with every breath, every gasp, the cell filling with the shuddering sound of his panting. More tears rolled down his face, leaving fresh, gaunt stains, and the fingers behind his head spread again, silently urging out more.

"What is he seeing?" she whispered, reaching again to brush at his jaw, and dispairing when her touch made his body lurch again.

"The Wilds. Loneliness. A soldier with no commander, no army. A woman with a smile like the sun."

"Make it stop," she begged, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "Let me talk to him."

"As you wish."

He withdrew his hand with a flourish, and Link finally made a sound, a broken cry falling out of him as the mindprobe withdrew, and pressed his fists into his forehead. She waited, breathless, while he came out of it. And then his hands lowered, and he saw her, and his eyes went wide.

"Zelda." She nodded once, not quite able to speak, and he reached out with a trembling hand to touch her mouth. "This isn't real."

"I'm real," she promised, lips quivering. "I'm here."

But his expression turned to flint.

"No," he growled, gnashing his teeth, and grabbed her by the shoulders—and as he did, sobbed, feeling the reality of her between his hands, and more tears burned hot, pale trails down his face. "You can't be here. You can't be real. Because you would never be that—that stupid—"

His face crumpled and he bowed his head, holding her shoulders like a lifeline.

"I'm sorry," she whispered brokenly, watching him fall to pieces and knowing there was nothing she could do to comfort him. "I'm so sorry, Link."

Then the Yiga stroked the back of his jaw, running lithe fingertips up behind his ear, and Link reflexively lurched away, catching a cry in his throat, and pinched his eyes shut. His hand ran along the side of his skull, threading in his hair and pulling his head back to rest against his thigh, stroking him gently as though he were soothing an animal.

"Don't touch her mind," Link whispered, desperate, shattered, his eyes never leaving hers. "Please. Just leave her alone."

"We can arrange that," the Yiga promised softly, encouragingly. "If you cooperate."

His closed his eyes, loosing a shuddering, defeated sigh, and leaned further into his leg.

"There," he soothed. "That's not so bad, is it?"

His captor lifted his hand from his hair and spread his fingers, and Zelda watched helplessly as Link dragged an awful breath, his eyes blowing out and turning vacant, and the Yiga slowly, deftly, tore his mind open.