Finally! A Ganlink! The problem with this pairing is that they require a bit of set-up to throw them together. This pairing always begs for a longer AU, and this Whumptober is meant for ficlets... and I have enough WIPs on my to-do list. lol Enjoy this little bit of h/c, at least.
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From what Ganondorf understood, Princess Zelda’s little spy had no real rank. He had no family name, no title. By his observations, the Hylian King didn’t seem to recognize his existence at all. He seemed like an odd creature, dressed in his fae green, and his warriors joked that he was one of the forest spirits tamed by Princess Zelda’s odd magic.
However fitting the description, watching the Hylian now, Ganondorf thought him more akin to a wolf than a spirit. More feral than fae, although he possessed the same old, too-sharp eyes as Princess Zelda. Those ancient eyes were taunting hints of the secrets lurking within Hyrule Castle, although neither Kali nor Nabooru had been able to discover anything. Everyone knew that trying to find out any answers from Link was pointless: for months Ganondorf thought him mute. All they knew for sure regarding him was his race, and many of his Gerudo doubted that.
Even Link’s horse seemed wild, biting at any Gerudo who tried to touch her. Only Nabooru seemed immune from the creature’s wrath, and Nabooru pet her now, looking far too smug, while Link sat on a crate beside her, eating a plate of food like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. One blue eye was blackened, the cheekbone underneath scraped red. His horse, on the other hand, seemed immaculate.
“They vanished into the forest three weeks ago,” Kali murmured at his shoulder. It had been she, years ago, who had ultimately convinced Ganondorf to give Link an official pass into the Fortress. It looked better than Link, at the time barely more than a child, sneaking into the Fortress and being treated like a type of wild pet by his warriors. “Somehow, the magic there doesn’t seem to affect him, or he knows how to get around it. We weren’t able to follow him. He emerged a week ago, met with the princess at Hyrule Castle, and then came here.”
Even Link’s age was unknown, although it was assumed he was approximately Princess Zelda’s age. He had grown into a beauty, the bruises not enough to mar it, a lovely wolf in his prime. Lovely and undoubtedly with sharp teeth.
“He looked worse when he first emerged from the forest, but it seems the princess’s magic extends into the healing arts,” Kali continued. “Either not completely or she wished to be subtle, but there was a noticeable difference from when he entered the castle to when he left it.”
Like the previous times Link had slunk away from wherever the princess had sent him. What could these odd missions possibly be? What did they have to do with the forest?
As if hearing them talk about him, Link looked up from where he was gnawing on some dried meat. Even bruised and apparently half-starved, there was an aristocracy to the shape of his face and the length of his damning Hylian ears, similar to what Ganondorf had only seen before on higher ranking Hylians. Kali believed him to be an orphan from the War, possibly a noble’s or Knight’s, but no evidence had been discovered one way or another. Even now, Link did not look at Ganondorf like a soldier looking at a King. There was no hesitancy in his gaze. He looked at Ganondorf like he always had: like he was a puzzle Link couldn’t figure out.
Well. Ganondorf knew the feeling. “Perhaps I should ask,” he said, walking forward. He heard Kali sputter behind him but didn’t look back.
Link watched him approach, unblinking and fearless. Ganondorf could admit -- if only to himself -- that there was something charming to how Link looked at him. Openly, intensely, with eyes which shone like jewels in the desert sun. A fierce golden wolf he had no interest in taming.
Well. Perhaps just a little.
At last, Nabooru noticed Link’s attention on something other than her. She turned away from the mare and, strangely enough, smiled when she followed Link’s gaze to Ganondorf. She nodded once to Ganondorf, said something to Link, and vanished into the shadows of the Fortress. Ganondorf had no idea why she did that every time he tried to join her and Link.
Still, it wasn’t Nabooru he wished to speak with. “You have a nasty habit of visiting our Fortress adorned with bruises and marks,” Ganondorf drawled, walking up to Link. The mare side-eyed him before tossing her mane, content to ignore him. Link absently reached out to scratch her neck, not looking away from Ganondorf. His other hand still held the dried meat.
“They’re nothing,” Link dismissed quietly. He tilted his head, and it was strangely distracting how the sun shone on his golden bangs.
The bruise remained the most distracting thing. More than a week old, exact age unknown, and Ganondorf could see the shadows of how large it had been. It was a miracle Link still had his eye. His hand cupped Link’s cheek before Ganondorf was aware he was raising it, his thumb carefully just by the bruise and the scrape on his cheekbone. Link started and Ganondorf waited for him to pull away, waited for the wolf to show his fangs, but instead…
Ganondorf’s breath caught. Link’s feral blue eyes softened and he relaxed -- just the barest amount -- into Ganondorf’s palm. If Link was anyone else, Ganondorf would have sworn he even smiled a little.
“It doesn’t even hurt,” Link said softly, staring up into Ganondorf’s eyes.
Ganondorf swallowed. At the feel of Link’s smooth skin against his hand, the subtle weight of Link’s head on his palm, he found his plans changing. “I have salves in my room. Come. I’m sure there are more injuries under your clothes.”
Immediately, he was aware that his last comment didn’t quite sound right, but he refused to take it back, especially when Link’s small smile grew. He half-expected Link to tell him that he didn’t need salves, but all Link said was, “Okay.”
Okay. That simple. Now Link pulled away, dropping his uneaten dried meat on his plate and confidently striding toward Ganondorf’s rooms. It was only when they were almost there that Ganondorf realized that he had never told Link where his rooms were and they had never stabled Link’s horse.
Soon, when he realized that salve was useful for more than bruises, Ganondorf forgot about those things.
At least it gave him the opportunity to ask about Link’s bruises the next morning.