literature

Zelink Family - Protect It With Your Life

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It was only fitting that one of the very first surface-born children, who would have spent the majority of their lives on the land below and have few ties to the skies above, loved to explore.  The vast wilderness of this surface world had so much to offer young Daphnes, a lad of barely fifteen, and he took every opportunity he could to venture out of his parents' sight and experience everything he could.  He would wander into the deep forests near his home in Faron Woods and peek inside the underground dungeons his father had once traversed, and even go treasure hunting underneath Eldin Volcano with his Uncle Ledd (although he'd gotten in trouble for that on more than one occasion).

In fact, it was on the ascent of Eldin Volcano where Daphnes found himself on this clear winter morning, looking down at the small huts where he knew his mother and father were still visiting with a few of the region's mogmas, with whom they'd gotten to be quite close.  But they were talking about things that didn't really appeal to the boy, so he left with his satchel and sword (not that he thought he would need it, save for the occasional annoying keese that still lurked in the caves) and decided to go sightseeing.  Now, here he stood, near the gate the divided the base of the volcano and its midsection, admiring the glow of the lava pools below and the streams that fed them from above.  Yes, it was different from the lush, green woods he had been raised in, but it was still beautiful in its own way.

Daphnes took a seat on a nearby boulder, then reached inside his satchel.  Brushing aside the strips of jerky and bags of nuts, he pulled out his most treasured possession: his harp, which had been left to him by his mother and father when he was a small boy.  He took it with him whenever the family left the woods, for he was charged with protecting it at all costs.  He loved this harp and the sounds it made; he loved playing on it the songs he had learned throughout his childhood.  With a gorgeous view like this, and with no one around to disturb him, he figured he could sneak in a couple of tunes before having to go back down to the base.

He began to strum one of his favorite songs, his hums gradually turning into quiet lyrics.  "Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess," he sang softly, "unite earth and sky, bring light to the land…" He always thought it was neat that his father had been immortalized in the Ballad's lyrics, although the hero himself seemed a little embarrassed by it.  Still, his mother had explained the song's significance to him, and it was something he had always been pretty proud of.

Suddenly, the sound of shifting dirt interrupted his song, causing Daphnes to jump and nearly drop the harp.  He looked to his right and was greeted by two mogmas - mogmas he had never met before, whose fur was a dark color and had unfamiliar marking on it.  He stared at them, trying to remember if Uncle Ledd or any of the others mentioned having more friends in the area.

The first mogma, who sported a massive spike of red hair not entirely unlike the boy's Uncle Groose, grinned, leaning into his paws.  "Nice tune, kid," he sneered, "probably don't wanna quit your day job anytime soon, though."  The second mogma, whose head appeared to have been completely sheared of fur, snickered at his partner's comment.

Daphnes scowled.  "I wasn't playing for you," he said, hugging the harp to his chest.

The bald mogma tilted his head.  "Aww, really?  And here I thought we'd scored a free concert!"

"Yeah!  …But you know, we probably ended up scoring something a lot more, heheh, valuable.  Like that gold, musical stringy-thingy that looks like it could go for a good load of cash."  The first mogma held out his arm.  "So how about giving it to us, huh?  Come on, be a pal."

The boy's scowl turned into an outright glare as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword.  "My mother and father gave this to me!" he said angrily.  "It's a gift from the Goddess to our family.  I won't let you have it!"

"The Goddess?" The bald mogma turned to his partner.  "Hey, he says that stringy thing's from the Goddess!"

The red-haired mogma sniggered.  "Ha, as if!  I bet it's just a fancy heirloom or something.  He's a kid; he's probably just saying things."

"I'm not just saying things!  My mother was an oracle of the Goddess, and my father's the hero Link!  If you even try taking this harp from me, you'll be sorry…!"

At that, the two thieves began to laugh raucously, causing Daphnes to turn red in humiliation and anger.  He drew his sword and pointed it at the first, to which he reacted by putting his paws in the air mockingly.

"Ooh, watch out!  We've got a tough guy over here!"  He glanced at the other.  "Get the bag."

"Got it!" The bald bandit pulled out what was unmistakably a bomb bag, retrieving from it what was also unmistakably a bomb.  He grinned at the boy, whose eyes had widened at the sight.  "Kid, I don't think you understand the situation.  Either you hand over the stringy-harpy-thingy, or bits and pieces of you go flying smack dab into the walls.  Your choice!"

Daphnes swallowed his fear.  "You'll have to kill me before you can take it."

The bald mogma lit the bomb and tossed it at Daphnes.  He jumped out of the way, wincing as it exploded.  Once he got his bearings straight, he tucked the harp under his right arm and raised his sword with his left, charging at the red-haired thief.  The mogma quickly dove underground to avoid the blade, then reappeared behind him.  Alerted by the sudden sound of digging, Daphnes spun around, slicing into the creature's chest.

The bandit cried out in pain, then turned to his partner.  "Don't just stand there!!  Blow him up!!"

The other thief hurled another lit bomb at Daphnes, who again dodged the blast.  However, he was surprised to see that the explosion had caused a small rock avalanche.  Screaming, he barley managed to crawl out of the way, although his back was pelted with rocks with a force that undoubtedly left bruises.  Realizing that his sword alone was no match for their firepower, he stumbled to his feet and began to run down the base of the volcano.  The mogmas followed him, digging their way through the cliffs and slopes Daphnes had trouble traversing, and soon they cornered him.

The holder of the bomb bag pulled out two this time, sneering as his partner crossed his arms, ignoring the blood that leaked out of his wound.  "Well," said the bald one, "looks like this is the end of the line for you, kid!"

"Yeah!" said the red-haired one, "You should have known better than to challenge a mogma in his own territory!"

"Your territory!?" cried a familiar, snarky voice from behind the two, "Where the hell do you get off calling it your territory!?"

The bomb holder turned in surprise, but was greeted with a swift arrow to the shoulder.  He dropped them, screaming and doubling over in pain.  The other mogma caught a good look at the sudden attackers and froze, while Daphnes broke out into a huge smile.

"Uncle Ledd!" he cried.  "Father!  Mother…!"

Indeed, Ledd had been the one to call out to the thieves, and Link was busy preparing his bow to fire another arrow.  Zelda was also there, holding a bomb of her own over her head.  The friendly mogma chuckled and shook his head.

"Man, you guys are nuts.  I mean, really nuts - who tries to kill a little kid and steal his stuff?"  He shrugged.  "I thought we got rid of you creeps ages ago.  Ah, well, I guess Mama Bear and Papa Wolf here will have to finish the job…!"

The first bandit growled at the group, fully intent on reaching over to grab a bomb from his injured sidekick's bag, but another well-aimed arrow stopped him.

"Get away from our son," the enraged father growled back.  He turned to his wife.  "Zelda, now!"

"Right!"  Zelda tossed the bomb into the air, aiming for a pile of loose rocks directly over the two mogmas.  Then, with the trained precision of a veteran knight, Link shot the bomb in midair, causing the explosion to disturb the rocks and avoid their endangered son.  The bandits screamed as they were bombarded with rocks, until they finally managed to dig themselves back into the ground and retreat.

When the rocks had all settled, Daphnes hurriedly climbed over them and stumbled over to his parents.  "Mother!  Father!  Th-they wanted the harp!  I was trying to get away from them, but they — "

He was interrupted by a tight embrace from his mother.  "Daphnes!  Oh, Goddesses, you're okay…!"

Link sighed in relief.  "If we hadn't heard him screaming…" he put away his bow and shook his head.  "Ledd, who were those guys?  They weren't a part of the tribe, were they?"

"Those ugly brutes?  We threw them out years ago for this exact reason."  He scratched his head.  "Guess they didn't get the message that we're treasure hunters, not treasure robbers.  Yeesh."

Zelda let go of her son and smiled at him.  "But Daphnes is safe, and he kept the harp safe."  She ran a finger over his cheek.  "You didn't do anything wrong."

Daphnes smiled back, his eyes sparkling with pride.  "I promised I'd keep it safe," he looked to Link, "right, Father?"

The older hero grinned sheepishly, remembering the little boy who had made a pinky promise so long ago.  "That's right."  He walked over and ruffled Daphnes' hair.  "You did well.  Just - stay with us until we get back home, okay?"

The boy frowned a little, robbed of his chance to do more sightseeing.  "Okay."
One of a series of shorts involving Papa Link, Mama Zelda, and their son Daphnes, conceptualized first by the ever lovely :iconferi-san: and kind of expanded upon between the two of us. :D

View the rest of the stories here, and Feri's wonderful sketches of the family here!

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This came out of a combination of this sketch's implication that Daphnes and Ledd would become amazing treasure hunting buddies and the earlier idea that he would be given the Goddess' Harp to protect. Plus I just wanted to write the whole family as badasses. ;)

There's also a matching picture of teen!Daphnes playing the harp here!
© 2012 - 2024 QueenieZ
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SilverDragon234's avatar

That should teach those damned thieving scoundrels to leave Daphnes alone. And yet he succeeded in defending the sacred heirloom safe. Good work!