Forged in Malice

Chapter 1

It had been about a month or so since Link defeated Calamity Ganon. Over the past weeks, Link had been fighting off the last remains of monsters throughout Hyrule and trying to figure out how to get rid of the last remains of malice that were stubborn and still around. Princess Zelda, soon to be queen, was safe in Kakariko as she began making plans on rebuilding her broken kingdom. With the princess safe, Link didn't have to worry about her during his travels and focus on his mission. Currently, he was in the Gerudo Wastelands and taking out the various moblins and bokoblins within the area, only to stop when faced with a rather small amount of malice. Link lets out a frustrated sigh, knowing Zelda would be much better at getting rid of the stuff than he would be.

For a moment, knowing the area was clear of the usual monsters, Link sheaths his sword and stares at the pile, trying to figure out how to get rid of the malice without any of those weird eyes he could shoot at. He couldn't touch it, knowing how much it hurt to even get a little on him, and he thought it would be a waste to use the Bow of Light, especially without Zelda to help power it, so the Hylian was lost in his own head to come up with a solution to this problem. It would be irresponsible of him to leave it, especially with the Yiga still hanging around without their master.

Speaking of which, Link was unaware for probably the first time in a while that someone had managed to sneak up on him. Specifically popped in out of nowhere in the usual puff of smoke the Yiga were known for. Before he could even draw his sword, Link found himself painfully land within the pile of malice. The dark goop painfully clings to his skin, feeling like it was burning him alive. He would scream out in agony if he could, but the malice would then be in his mouth and that was a pain he did not want to experience, nor a taste he wanted to find out. Before he knew it, though, the malice nearly covered him entirely and all he could hear over the pounding of his own panicking heart was the cruel laughter of the Yiga member before the coward vanished.

It felt like hours had passed, but eventually the pain had numbed his senses enough to where Link was able to fight against the sticky pull of the malice. It still hurt like hell, but he was able to free himself from the dark mass. Link was far too overwhelmed with shock and pain to notice the change in his own body, more concerned with the relief that he was still alive after being in the malice for so long that it was night rather than how sensitive his skin felt from the cold night air. After making such a blunder like that, it was probably best that Link headed to a town for the night, favoring Gerudo Town as he definitely needed to reconnect with a few new drinking buddies from there...however his slate didn't work when he tried to teleport there. Maybe some of the malice got inside the strange device, and that's why it wasn't responding to him. The next time he saw Zelda, he would have to get her to check it for him. For now, the stable near the Gerudo Desert would have to do for the night.

Once he got back on the horse he was traveling with, he started to notice some changes with his body...specifically how it was easier to get on the horse. Maybe his body is still reeling from the incredible pain from earlier and that's why everything felt a little off. After making a health potion and getting a good night's sleep he should be back to normal...little did he know, he was far from anything close to "normal".

In the morning, after Link had settled his horse for the night, downing roughly three large hearty elixirs, and buying the softest and most expensive bed available at the stable, Link woke up feeling more off than he usually did after getting his ass handed to him by a lynel. Removing himself from his mound of blankets and sitting up on the bed, Link felt like his head was just a little heavier than usual...weird, but maybe the malice was still kicking his ass.

Bringing a hand up to tame his usually unruly locks, he felt something hard and almost instantly he felt a fuzzy and warm feeling spread throughout his body. The shock of feeling whatever was on his head was enough for Link to draw his hand away, stopping the strange trance-like state. Now he was left with utter confusion, making him get out of bed a lot faster than he would have liked so he could use one of the nearby puddles to get a better look at himself...though from the looks of the owner, it probably wasn't good.

Link didn't know what to expect, but seeing two dark purple horns atop his head was not something that came to mind. The hylian reeled back from the puddle, wondering if he was seeing things, but the surprises kept coming. Under his clothes, he was apparently sporting a pair of wings that looked like larger versions of keese wings under the Champion's tunic, and a long, smooth tail. Both matched the color of his new horns and were equally disturbing to suddenly have.

While discovering his new features, Link wondered how he didn't notice the lack of a certain feature earlier...not that his...ahem "master sword" was a major part of his identity, but his face turned pale when he thought that the malice basically castrated him. Thankfully where he was, hardly anyone could see the practically naked champion as he was having an existential crisis on his hands, but after panic prodding in an attempt to at least feel for any new scars that could have been in place of his now missing dick, he comes to find out that the malice didn't castrated him...at least, not in the sense he originally thought, but the malice gave him a sex change instead.

At that point, Link really needed that slate working and to find Zelda apparently yesterday, so after redressing himself with an added cloak to hide the horns, he got back on his horse and headed towards Kakariko. It would take about a week for him to arrive at the quaint little village, just so that he wouldn't push his horse too hard. Just because he was having a bit of a crisis didn't mean he needed to run his horse ragged, lives were no longer on the line...at least, Link assumed that this strange transformation wasn't something fatal. Though he doubted Princess Zelda would have any insight on what happened to him or how it was even possible, she was a scientist at heart and Link much preferred to be at her mercy of examination than Purah or Robbie.

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