gluttonforpunishment | Closed to [miphasgrace]

Closed to [miphasgrace]

The Champions are alive. Their souls freed from the Divine Beasts, their bodies from the Calamity. Link's injured, bleeding freely from a gouge along his ribs - and several of those are broken besides, but he's still on his feet, sword in his hand still alight with energy. He looks them over: Revali, Urbossa, Zelda, Daruk... Mipha.

He's exhausted. Even with their help, Ganon had not gone down easy. It had been hours of fighting and then so long on horseback with broken ribs, every draw of the Bow of Light excruciating. He's exhausted physically, and mentally, and he's not sure what's keeping him on his feet. Maybe just the stubborn refusal to collapse.

He's shed his helmet already, and he wants to sheathe his sword, but just the idea of lifting his arm makes him more tired - his arm feels like lead, he might have broken his arm as well...

Link smiles weakly. His voice is gone - dry and hoarse, so instead he just smiles and bobs his head. He's glad they're alright, he's glad Ganon is gone, but if they'll excuse him, he needs to sit down. Or maybe collapse.

His legs start to go, and it's Daruk who gets to him first, lowering him gently to the thick grass, trampled and scorched and muddy. "Easy, buddy," he says, bracing Link semi-upright.

"Are you alright, Link?" That's Zelda, hurrying to him. He's glad to see she's unhurt after her ordeal. Her dress is clean, though her sandals and feet are muddied. He nods, though he really definitely isn't alright. But he's alive, and they're alive, and Ganon is dead - or at least gone.

He looks up, past Daruk and Zelda, to Mipha. She's fine as well. He finally takes his hand off the hilt of his sword and signs - his arms are jelly, but they're stronger than his voice, "I'm really tired." He sags against Daruk. The Goron is warm even if he's a bit too hard to be comfortable to lean against. His hands fall into his lap and he blinks tiredly. He's not sure even Mipha - if she's even strong enough yet - will be able to heal all this, but he doesn't care. He has time to recover.

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At the very least, once nestled and braced properly into the stretcher, it's far easier to keep Link steady as they slide him onto the back of a wagon. With enough hands lending their strength, and both the Sheikah healer and Mipha telling them to stay careful and gentle, his body laid straight can be moved as a whole.

For the time being, the sharp pain jolting him into staying awake is better than the opposite outcome she'd feared - though either way it was a lose-lose, with the amount of injury he's sustained. If anything, his sudden cry out gave Mipha her own flare of renewed energy; still over his torso, the light from her hands burns brighter as her protective instincts go into overdrive upon hearing his outburst.

Mipha's gone silent, the Sheikah healer giving her orders as the Zora princess focuses on Link. She can hear what's going on around her, but it's become muffled to her ears as her tunnel vision has only one recipient. The rest of her is on auto-pilot, the worry she'd been trying to put away for everyone else's sake seeping into her face, eyes darting over him and hands beginning to shiver.

As they move him, she worriedly glances up and down his prone form, her healing power intensifying to match her racing thoughts: Did his gouge re-open? No, she's been holding her hands over it the entire time... But his ribs, they might've cracked again after he was bent to lie down. His head - he's still looking around, he appears to be able to listen clearly, but could his skull be fractured? His arms were braced for transfer, but his lower body is still covered by his armor, could that be hiding anything, could he have internal bleeding? Will she and the other healer be enough?

She'd taken care of him since they were little children, healing him time and time again even as kid's scrapes turned into injuries befitting of the knight title he'd been appointed. They grew serious, but she'd always been able to heal him. As a spirit, her Grace allowed her to heal what would instantly be considered a fatality... But now, brought back to life, she can't do that anymore. And this is one of the most important situations where he needed that power.

If I were still a spirit...I could have taken care of this far more easily...

As Link is moved into place, the care the men take not to jostle him helps keep the pain down, and when the settle him down in the back of the wagon, fabric sling and all, he's laid down not on a hard surface, but a softer one, one that cradles his body effectively.

The healer moves around him and the wagon rocks, but not a lot, not enough that he really even notices. She settles near his head, one hand resting on his forehead so he can't move his head. She leans back, then returns. "I'm going to put a little pillow under your neck, Link, to take the stress off of it. Just relax, alright?" He hums quietly instead of nodding, and her hand eases between the bean sacks and his skin. Her fingers are cool and firm, and she slides the little pillow between his neck and the stretcher and instantly some of the strain eases.

"Better? You look more relaxed." She moves again, this time to pull the curtains at the back of the wagon mostly shut, casting the space into semi-darkness, except for a candle lit at the back, behind his head.

She moves that close now and he winces, but doesn't close his eyes - he's aware of how they check for concussion.

"Mild concussion, you should be fine to rest once we're done with what we can do right now." She looks up at Mipha, relief clear on her face. "Let's get you something for the pain, and we'll get you undressed so we can see what all we have left to do." She again gets up and opens the curtains.

Outside, Link's horse is still neighing and whinnying, but he doesn't run from the wagons - he seems to know Link is there and is hesitant to go too far, even if it means people are continuing to chase him.

The muffling of the sounds of everything around her lessens once they're settled in the wagon and Link is, for all intents and purposes, in the safest of positions. The squeak of the wagon's wheels, the sound of that enormous horse keeping up with them. Her quietly growing panic doesn't, however, until the healer's relieved words sound out and Mipha realizes the hypnotic state she was in.

She feels foolish being absent for long, even if she couldn't help it, but at the same time is glad the other healer took charge.

Blinking back the degree of emotion, her smile in return to the healer is a delayed reaction, but a genuine one. She tries to steady her slightly-shaking hands, still positioned over him in a way to provide the most relief. Whatever the Sheikah have for his pain is going to do wonders for his entire fatigued body, and that means she can move her healing power to the next needed area.

As the other healer prepares, Mipha looks back to Link, leaning in a bit so he can see her better than out of the corner of his eye, and places one of her hands on his to give it a tiny squeeze. "I'm sure after long, this won't be quite as long a trip for you." In the back of a wagon all the way to Kakariko, nearly undressed and poked and prodded at. "Hang on a little bit longer."

He does look leagues more comfortable, snug in between so many bags and makeshift pillows. Once they deal with his pain and his head, she hopes it'll be an equally comfortable slumber.

The healer shifts around in her shelves and drawers, and comes out with another bottle. "Here, Champion. This should help with the pain but not numb you completely." She dips the bottle against a piece of cloth, then lifts it to his mouth. "I'm going to rub this against your gums. It's difficult to not choke a person on drinking something that can't lift this head and is also in the back of a moving wagon."

Link hums again then opens his mouth, allowing her to press the soaked cloth against his gums. It takes only a few seconds and he closes his eyes with a sigh of relief. His eyes flutter closed, but she's right: the pain is lesser, now, but he's not heavy with sleep.

He watches Mipha instead of the healer. She's well within his line of sight now, but her hands are both dry and warm. Not slightly clammy, as he remembers, but dry. "You should... take care of yourself, too," he croaks. What's he going to do if she gets sick? Probably not die, but he doesn't want to risk losing her again. He's already lost her once and gotten her back.

"He's right," the healer says, working carefully to remove Link's helmet, one hand on the back of his head, feeling as she goes for any bleeding or fractures. "You've healed the worst of it already, what I can do will be enough until you've had a chance to recover."

The sound of Link's actual voice startles her.

"I'm--" She catches herself before she makes the same excuse she's heard before. Compared to Link or even Zelda, she can say she's fine, but if he's noticed enough in his own state to be concerned, she hardly has a leg to stand on. Constant draining of her magic power just after being returned to her physical form isn't exactly healthy.

Looking down at him, her smile turns apologetic. He still looks haggard and she can't help how she feels, nor her instinct to follow the promise she'd made him. "...I just want to do the most I'm able for you."

But she knows they're right, and with his pain being somewhat managed by the medication, the blue glow from her power disappears. Glancing down as her hand curls over his, she can tell what made him speak up.

Still, she can't sit idly by, feeling useless as she recharges. So she offers the healer even the slightest help that won't be a drain on her own health. "Please, at the very least I can assist."

"Is that a good compromise for you, Champion?" She asks Link with a bit of a wink.

"Yeah..." He smiles and closes his eyes again. The healer's hands are gentle on his head as she sifts through his hair gently.

"Let's get his armor off of his legs so we can check for breaks," she tells Mipha, more than ready to let her still help, without draining her energy. "He may appreciate his beloved doing it more than me." Link smiles, which tells her she's correct.

The painkillers are doing their work. He's relaxed and pliant under her touch, but he's still conscious and thus will be able to tell him if a certain area hurts.

Mipha can't help but duck her head bashfully at that, silent but happy. To be reminded of this second chance they've been granted, with Link's silent reaction more than enough to boot.

Gingerly, she begins to unfasten the ancient greaves, loosening the ties holding them in place while being mindful of not applying any more pressure on his lower body than the armor already is. It goes a bit slow as the wagon rocks, and any awkwardness she might've felt is overridden by checking in with him to see if there's any pain. Once the plates are free, she carefully holds them in place until the wagon rides along a smooth patch to shift the rest of the fastenings loose from underneath his thighs.

With the cuisses off first, she checks the dark underarmor for any tears, lacerations, or signs of blood before moving on to his greaves.

While the material of his leggings and the armor itself is all fully intact and hardly even scratched, his legs underneath are a different story altogether. His left ankle is already swollen and ugly-looking and there are bands of dark bruises along his thighs and the backs of his legs. He winces as the compression of the thick material is removed, and his legs start to throb in time with his heartbeat.

It doesn't hurt, exactly, but his muscles twitch as the blood starts to flow into and past the bruised areas, and the pins-and-needles feeling is not fun. He winces and shifts a little, but the healer puts her hand over his forehead to keep him from moving. "It's alright, we'll get you something for the bruises. Just relax."

It's hard to relax when his legs feel like they're on fire, though. "There's a jar behind you, Princess. Bruise balm. It should help." If she wasn't busy keeping Link from moving his head, she would get it for Mipha.

The jar is easy to find. Mipha opens it and dips her fingers into the salve to collect a good amount. "It's a little cold," she warns, before picking a spot on one leg where the bruising is particularly bad and slowly introducing the balm to his skin. Spreading it out to cover the bulk of the discoloration, her hand and fingers are even and smooth as they massage the gel into his skin without pressing too hard on the tender injuries.

She repeats the process, working on each part of Link's legs in parallel with each other. Her hands move as softly and delicately as they do when she heals -- which, admittedly, is something she has to squash the urge to do upon seeing and feeling out his battered and discolored legs.

The undersides and his left ankle are tougher, if only because she's trying not to hurt him any more. Reaching around to the underside of his calves are the easiest without having to lift them much, and as she's holding them steady to finish covering the bruises there, she asks, "Does that feel any better?"

He relaxes as she massages the gel into his legs - to be honest, the cold doesn't bother him that much, the relief of it working into his legs is enough to override the chilliness. Her lightest touch against his ankle does send a spike of pain up his leg, but she doesn't linger on it, so he's able to relax again.

"Broken ankle?" the healer asks, leaning around to look down at Link's legs. "Might be best to immobilize it until we can splint it properly." She's still stroking her fingers over Link's forehead and through his hair, trying her best to keep him relaxed. She wants to check his breathing and other body functions, but with the plate and chainmail in the way... It'll take something that can cut through the metal to remove, making him lift his arms above his head or jostle his head at all is not something she wants to do right now.

Finishing the rub on his left calf, she hesitates to let it down in place where it was. Instead she looks around the back of the wagon for a sack or pillow that wasn't being used in Link's makeshift bed and slides it underneath to pillow his ankle.

"We can keep it elevated, at least..." Judging from his wince, tightly bandaging it doesn't seem like a good idea without stable ground, now that his armor's off and not compressing the injury.

Mipha stays where she is, putting the jar of balm to the side and keeping his leg and the pillow steady. "His arm will need to be set, too," she remembers. She can tell the same as the healer's thinking and knows the rest of his armor isn't coming off yet. The only visible part of his torso that she can see is where the armor had failed along his ribs, and aside from the messily sealed gouge there's not much to tell.

"I'm not sure what else we can really do here. We'll have to stop for the night, and you can do more healing afterwards, after you eat." Link's stable enough that they don't have to rush back. "I can give you something to help you sleep, Link... Also, maybe a cool cloth on your ankle to help with the swelling. If that sounds good, I can trade Mipha places."

He nods, a little - as much as he can with her hand on his forehead - and she smiles down at him. "I'll see about making arrangements to have that chainmail and plate cut off of you when we stop. I don't want to wait until we get back to the village, it might be too late if there are internal injuries. We're already very lucky you only have a mild concussion and no skull fractures. Now you just need to rest and recover. Luckily, there's plenty of time for that."

Compared to the pace at which they initially assessed his injuries, hearing her say that—with a smile, no less—is refreshing and relieving. Despite not being out of the proverbial woods just yet, things are looking considerably more optimistic; the wounds most likely hidden underneath his armor may be serious, but are as treatable as the rest of them, with two competent healers and time.

Mipha smiles and nods pointedly at the other healer, acknowledging and agreeing to the plan. When she's ready to, they carefully maneuver around Link in the back of the wagon to switch places. Kneeling close to him with her legs to the side, she takes one look at his face and lets out a long-awaited sigh of relief.

"This is one time I can't chide you for being reckless, is it?" Her tone was meant to be entirely light-hearted and teasing, but it's also laced with tiredness. "You came away with wound upon wound...but victorious, and alive."

She tries to fight the urge to mimic the gesture the healer had been comforting Link with, but ultimately fails the longer she looks at him. Her hand brushes away some stray strands stuck to the side of his face before resting on the edge of his forehead, webbed fingers hidden in his hair. "Whatever else there is...we'll take good care of you. ...You more than deserve the rest you've been pining for."

Carefully, the healer wets a cloth, wrings out the worst of the wetness, then lifts Link's leg and carefully drapes the cloth under and around his broken ankle, patting it into place gently before moving around to find a sedative.

As she works, Link looks up at Mipha. She's smiling now. Definitely looking more relaxed. Her fingers are in his hair, the delicate points of her nails scratching comfortably against his scalp. He blinks slowly, then lifts his arm - it feels so heavy from the painkiller - and carefully signs, "I love you." It was something he had never said before. He'd always planned on after everything. Luckily, they still have an 'after'. It might have been one hundred years in the making, but this is the after, now. He smiles up at her again, then repeats the sign, wanting to reaffirm it. His voice is gone, but he's not sure he could say it anyways, with another person so close.

All the emotional whiplash building up from the moment Link stepped into Vah Ruta hits her, like the dam that was threatening to break. Like the realization hit her; an 'after', indeed. Mipha closes her eyes to hold back her tears, opening them again just in time to see Link sign it a second time. To watch him say it after all this time, after her failed attempt at confessing all those years ago - and to repeat it with such conviction, with such a bright smile that betrays his current condition.

She raises her free hand and rests it against her chest, the gravity of the moment visibly moving her. A breathless laugh escapes her first; not an indication of not knowing what to say, but overwhelmed with happiness. Softly moving her fingers back and forth through his hair, her thumb stroking his forehead, she leans down closer to him with watery eyes and the widest smile she's had yet. "I love you," she repeats, almost a whisper. "With all of my heart."

Link smiles and relaxes, the tension going out of his shoulders. It feels so good to hear. It feels so good to not just know with his heart, but with his mind as well. She loves him. And he loves her. He can't take his eyes off of her. She's always been beautiful, but he's struck all over again by her.

He reaches up for her, resting his hand over hers - it's his right arm, the unbroken one, the one heavy from swinging his sword for so long. He brings her hand to his face and presses a kiss to her palm.

As distracted as Mipha is, she was two seconds from telling him not to move so much again before he manages to surprise her a second time; the sweetly gentle gesture turning it into a subdued 'oh'.

She's unable to tear her eyes away from his, nor her hand from his grasp. This is the first time either of them have been fully open with each other, and Link taking it into his hands—literally—to instigate something physical between them takes Mipha's breath away. With only a tinge of embarrassment, she leans down further until her forehead meets his and gazes at him until she closes her glossy eyes and presses ever so slightly in a nuzzle.

The healer, who looked away when she realized what Link signed, is carefully looking away, sitting at the far side of the wagon and staring out at the road as it unspools behind them. Link's horse is following of his own accord, the guards apparently having given up on trying to catch him.

She finds Link's pack, and there's a few apples in the bottom. They're bruised and a bit squishy, but she cuts one in half and tosses it out the back of the wagon towards the horse. He notices instantly, pausing to pick it up in his big mouth before he trots closer to the wagon, head held high, crunching his apple as he looks for more.

Link smiles and brings her hand down towards his chest, pressing her palm against his heart. But he's exhausted, mentally, physically, and any way it's possible to be exhausted. He releases her hand and signs, awkwardly, "I'm going to sleep... Join me?"

It's weird, how many of her normal protests fade into the background. And how much of the background fades away as well. Looking into the face of the person she's loved for as long as she can remember, seeing his normal withdrawn facade disappear and ask so openly for affection... Nothing else in the world matters right now.

Except; for a brief moment, the thought of glancing away from him crosses her mind, to the healer to non-verbally confirm an action that would ensure she would awaken to continue helping. It fades away nearly immediately, just like the rest. Link needs something completely different from her right now and it's something she's been waiting to express for years longer than a century.

Of course, on the outside, it takes no more than a second or two for her to acquiesce; "Of course, Link." Though always softspoken, her voice is whispered and hoarse with emotion. Slowly, she re-positions herself to lie down next to him; on her side, her hand kept across his chest and her head resting on one of the pillows surrounding Link's...but close, close enough so she can still see his face and brush against it if she wanted to. With her hand over his heart, she starts stroking her thumb lightly across his chest.

Almost instantly, Link's eyes start to drift shut. She's a familiar weight against his side, warm... Despite his injuries, there's been an almost literal weight lifted off of his shoulders. He's feeling relaxed, truly. Relaxed enough that sleep claims him easy, despite his lingering pains.

The wagon convoy stops for the night at the Dueling Peaks stable. The healer, Otoh, watches as the giant horse finally allows the familiar groom to catch him and lead him so he can be unsaddled and rubbed down before getting grain - he's a good horse, and they all know he's one of the reasons Link is still with them right now.

She stays with her wagon as the rest of the Champions disembark and the men and women of Kakariko start pitching tents. Zelda's changed into something less breezy than her dress, though she's still wearing Link's tunic over the sensible Sheikah clothing. She's obviously exhausted, and Urbossa's arm is around her shoulders, but she still greets those at the stable. Of course they know who she is. They likely saw what happened at the castle, or heard from those on horseback able to move much faster. She's the princess, their princess, and the Calamity is defeated.

It's not until the camp is mostly settled down again that Otoh climbs back into the wagon to wake Mipha and Link. He's going to need more painkillers, and they're all going to need something to eat, but first, she wants to get the chainmail off of Link so she can assess the condition of his lungs and other organs.

Mipha hadn't realized how truly drained she'd become until watching Link's descent into sleep was overshadowed by drowsiness of her own. She had a few moments to watch him, hear his breathing slow to a serene pace and feel his warmth under her loose hold, and smile privately to herself. The whirlwind of emotions from the short amount of time caught up with her, culminating in a contentedness of lying by his side that lulled her into a refreshingly peaceful doze.

Being roused wasn't difficult, however. By the time they arrive at the stable, the new commotion of everyone bustling about had given Mipha enough awareness to wake, albeit slowly. Her first instinct is to check on Link; his breathing, his heartbeat, that he's even still there. She makes no effort to move from her place, though, even after the wagon comes to a stop and she hears the voices carrying on outside and the work of setting up camp.

It's an abnormal feeling for her to wish to be selfish, even if only for a few moments more. But she can't help but want to savor moments like these from now on. Especially having drifted closer to Link during their sleep.

When Otoh returns, Mipha's lingering comes to an end and she knows what work must still be done. She smiles at the fellow healer, eyes half-lidded and not yet adjusted, as she reluctantly pushes herself up, wobbling, into a half-sitting position. "Is it that time already...?" she tries, her voice still thick from sleep.

"Unfortunately. But we can let him sleep a bit longer, I need to speak with the stable farrier about removing the chainmail. The other Champions are out and about, I'll let them know you're awake and Link is stable.

"I'd like to make sure his arm and ankle are both splinted before sleeping for the night." Otoh rests her hand on the end of the wagon for a moment. Link still has a long ways to go, but he's well on his way. So long as he has no internal injuries, he'll recover just fine.

"A few days to rest and sleep is probably all well be able to get out of him before he's up and about on his own, we need to take advantage of it while we can."

"He might try earlier than that if we're not careful," she says, her voice fond. Reckless is as reckless does, though she's only half-joking. Once the exhaustion wears off, Link may still want to take it easy and rest after everything he's been through and his worst is done.

Or not. She's healed him too many times to truly believe that.

Looking over how much of his torso is covered by armor and they haven't seen yet, she prays they don't find anything else. She hears familiar voices outside, Zelda and Urbosa, Daruk, Revali... Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she wants to check in with everyone, but she badly doesn't want to leave Link, especially alone once the healer leaves.

"Is everyone else...faring alright?"

"Yes. Princess Zelda is the only one of them that's at all weakened by what's happened, and Lady Urbossa is taking good care of her. If you'd like, I can ask them to stop by and see you. And we can keep him sedated for a while, at least, while the worst of it heals. Hopefully his ankle will slow him down enough for a while." Maybe they would have to strategically let that heal on its own, without Mipha's intervention.

"The villagers are already hard at work preparing dinner for us all, and those here at the stable. It shouldn't be long before we can eat, so we should move fast." Once the food can be smelled, that'll probably wake Link up, if he doesn't rouse on his own.

"Of course." She nods, thinking the same thing as Otoh; though showing his usual monstrous hunger would be a good sign. And finally knowing Link's full condition will set the rest of their plan in motion and likely give everyone full relief. So long as they're prepared, and she has no doubt they are.

"If the others would like to see him, before we check underneath his armor... I'm sure their worry for Link has not subsided either." She wouldn't deny them a chance to see him, even if resting peacefully. Of course, seeing that might make them feel better, knowing he's able to do so.

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