Chapter Text
To any regular civilian, living in a world post-Calamity would be a paradise. After all, once the lizalfos and bokoblins retreated back to their territories, the constant threat of death upon exploration out of the small village havens was no more! But for someone like Link, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Of course, it was great the first year or so. Link lived in his home in Hateno, every so often doing errands for the poor citizens that were still too afraid to leave the safety of the town. But pretty soon that wasn’t needed anymore. There were no more stray bokoblins waiting to prey on the innocent as soon as they stepped outside. Sure, he was still allowed to tag along, but there was a point where it just became embarrassing to be the kingdom’s most skilled swordsman and vanquisher of the calamity and be escorting a caravan of traders merely a day’s ride away.
Link tried to find hobbies. He didn’t have the patience for sewing. Nor the green thumb for gardening. He was a pretty decent cook, but there were only so many times he could eat in one day. Hunting helped. It almost felt like it did back before he ended the Calamity. Not that he would ever wish that devastation on anyone ever again. It was just a lot simpler then. Nowadays, Zelda was busy with rebuilding efforts, and Sidon was also trying to coordinate his people’s expansion after the Calamity, the Gerudo were cordial but after learning about his gender, they weren’t very keen to have him in their town for long stretches of time. And the Rito were just…they weren’t his kind of people. Neither were the Gorons.
So Link was stuck, he hunted way more than he could eat for a while. And when the people of Hateno also had their fill of gourmet and exotic meats, Link had to stop hunting because he was quickly toeing the line of impacting animal populations. So here he was, wandering the plains of south Hyrule looking for some business but finding none as usual. The sun was starting to set, but he knew there would be no increase in foes. Earlier in the day he went for a swim and for lunch, he camped out and roasted some of his gourmet meat on a fire. It was delicious as always. And then he took to walking. With a sigh, Link decided he should start to head home and debated on teleporting to the Hateno shrine or just hiking back. It would be midday the next day before he got back, but what else would he do?
The wind blew through the tall grass and Link smiled at the chill it ran down his spine. He had his doublet in case the temperature dropped too drastically, but he knew it was unlikely.
I t was a quiet, high-pitched mewl that shocked Link from his thoughts. On instinct, he drew the Master Sword and held it in front of him protectively. The sound didn’t repeat itself for a long while. So long, in fact, Link thought that he might have imagined it as the wind blew and rustled the grass. But then he heard it again. It was close, somewhere off in the shrubs to his right. About 200ft away. He approached slowly. Even without his stealth-enhancing armor, he moved quietly. Never before had he heard a foe mewl before. But he wasn’t about to let his guard down. Maybe a lone bokoblin was trying to trick him into thinking they could easily take down the hero of Hyrule. Link held the sword poised in a downward strike as he forcefully parted the bush.
Instead of the bulbous head of a bokoblin, however, he saw a small lump of fur. It trembled and shook in the persistent breeze and Link heard the whining sound once more. He immediately sheathed his sword and rushed around to the other side of the bushes to get a full look at the mound of fur. What he first thought to be a wounded deer or fox was still half buried under the shrubbery. His heart ached for the little thing, clearly freezing in the night chill. Where was its mother, he mused. Pulling out his slate, he clicked through his belongings until his warm doublet appeared on the ground beside him in a flare of blue light. He wasted no time draping it over the shivering animal. It gave a long, drawn-out cry that Link tried to shush away.
Thinking quickly, he scooped the mass up into his arms and brought it close to him. His heart nearly stopped as he saw the face of a baby lynel curling up to his chest. It was only Link’s quick reflexes that kept him from dropping the shivering cub in surprise. He had never seen a lynel cub (pup? Kit? Child?!) before. Not even before the Calamity. While a lot of his memories were still behind a fog of uncertainty, he gathered most of his information about lynels from Kilton at Fang and Bone . And that information only consisted of things that mattered during combat! Never once had Kilton mentioned the younglings of his foes!
Link looked down at the face of the lynel cub and debated his next move. For all he knew, there could be an angry lynel mother racing back to kill him for touching her offspring. He knew there used to be two lynels nearby during the Calamity, but nobody had seen them since the defeat of Ganon. It was as if they had disappeared. Link had double, triple, and quadrupled checked. Deciding he needed to check the area, he put the cub back onto the ground under the bush. It fussed and mewled again, but calmed somewhat as the doublet was tucked around it. That should buy him enough time to check for an angry mama. He took out his slate and teleported to the Lake Tower as it was the nearest.
Searching frantically, he couldn’t see any sign of any other lynel. Fearing the worst, he took his paraglider and started to sail off the tower in the direction of the cub. He did this several times, teleporting to the tower and sailing in a different direction for a sign. The only thing he found, however, was an abandoned bow. It had been there a bit; at least through a few rains if the rusted spots on the bow were anything to go by. Had the cub been left alone for that long? Not wanting the helpless creature to perish to the elements, Link made his way back to the lynel cub and scooped it into his arms once more. It settled quickly which was very unusual to Link. Shouldn’t it be scared of his scent? Not looking a gift horse in the mouth (gift lynel in the fangs?) he struggled to take his slate from his belt and teleported to a shrine nearest his home, but not inside the town. With the cover of nightfall, he would be able to sneak inside his sanctuary with nobody to see his charge.
The cub was distressed after the teleportation but settled soon with little shushings from Link. Pretty soon, Link had a lynel cub snuggled up in his bed! The thing had fussed quite a bit then, even with Link trying to soothe it. Link was never good with children let alone infants let alone lynel infants! But going off the quiet sucking noises the cub occasionally gave, Link assumed it was hungry. Thankfully, he had a few bottles of milk stored away and heated one up near his oven. In a fit of innovation, Link managed to carve a bottle nib out of a cork and a spare cloth so that he could feed the cub without making a mess. The poor thing was starved. Its pleading noises pulled at Link’s heartstrings harshly. By the time the bottle was empty, the lynel’s stomach looked less concave and It was able to fall asleep finally. Covering it with his blankets, Link made sure to make as little noise as possible as he left his house.
He needed an expert. He had no clue what he was doing!
Kilton followed a routine with his shop and Link teleported to him without further ado.
Relaying the story of the lynel cub to him, Link barely dodged the monster hoof thrown at his head.
“Wha-?! You teleported with a lynel cub?! Such idiocy! Don’t you know that lynels are incredibly sensitive as cubs and the slightest change of environment can drastically affect their chances of survival?!”
Link frantically shook his head, eyes widening. Had he really been so careless? He asked then if Kilton would be willing to take the cub off his hands since he was clearly better suited.
“As much as I would love the chance to nurture a lynel cub, I cannot! I am a researcher, not a babysitter! And besides, as I said before, a constant change in environment can be very detrimental to a cub’s health.” He grumbled, fishing around in his stall for something. Link let his head flop onto the counter with a thunk. He had no idea what he was to do. He was a hero. A fighter. A warrior! He had no knowledge of how to care for a lynel. Kilton turned at the thunk sound and Link gave him a pleading look. He needed help. He couldn’t do this.
The man sighed and grabbed a large book off the floor. “I can’t promise anything, but I will do some research and try to find a lynel pack that could take the cub. But I can’t promise anything!” He reiterated to Link’s look of hope. “And until then, you need to care for the cub as if it’s your own! For all we know, the lynels have disappeared along with the Calamity. This could be the last of its kind!”
Link asked for tips on taking care of the cub and Kilton gave very basic “feed it when it’s hungry, play with it when it’s awake, when it starts to grow teeth feed it meat” instructions and sent Link on his way so that the cub wasn’t left alone for too long.
Their worrying was for nothing as the cub was in the exact spot Link had left it in and merely crawled closer when he went to lay on the open sliver of the bed. Link sighed, somehow exhausted after the most intense night of his life since the Calamity. Was he ready for this?
Only time would tell.