Breath of the Wild
age: 25ish

The color bloomed almost prettily. His tunic was far and away from the original pristine white, but the fabric still soaked in the red like a drop of tea would slowly spread and stain a glove. Back when civilized things like gloves to demonstrate chastity and gatherings of those chaste young women at tea parties with elaborate pastries were dalliances that could be allowed. Those times were gone; fallen away to dust. Stabbed through with a knife.

Or an arrow.

The arrowhead glinted at Sofia in the harsh light as she starred up at it dumbly. It had been flying to strike her. A second before, she had accepted that it would hit and shut her eyes, ready to accept the pain. But with the thwump of the arrow hitting came no pain. She looked up and locked her gaze on the arrow, suspended in a chest that hovered over her so she was there to see a second arrow fly true. Strong arms caged her in, keeping her safe as the sound of the battlefield suddenly roared back into her ears.

Scrambling up from her prone position on her stomach, Sofia reached out her hand to gentle touch his cheek.

"James…" she breathed. Her eyes darted between the stain on his chest growing larger and larger across the fabric and his eyes. They were almost mirthful, consciously clouding over his pain.

"You gotta go, Sof," he gritted out. The rough edge to his voice awakened Sofia's inner panic.

"Oh gods, James!" Her other hand found his other cheek, framing his face as he went from one knee to two. "What did you do? What did you do?"

"Kept you safe, little sister." The pain wasn't hidden in his eyes any longer. Sofia pressed her forehead to his. It was a shock when another set of arms wrapped around her waist and started pulling her backward. She fought against the grip.

"Let me go! No! James -"

"Don't let his sacrifice be in vain, Sofia." Cedric's voice filled her ear with an edge of command, his body safely wrapped around hers. Sofia stopped fighting and felt herself fill with agony, unable to tear her gaze away from James as he pushed himself up standing with a roar of pain and adrenaline. He drew his shield up from the ground as he stood and drew his sword from his hip, reading to face the onslaught of foes and give his family precious seconds more to flee.

A/N: I saw a Breath of the Wild (Legend of Zelda) fan art with Link crouching over Zelda having taken several arrows to his back and it made me think of James standing over Sofia. In my head cannon, Sofia is pregnant and she and Cedric have been married and, well, lots of other things but they weren't necessary to the blip of the story here. Happy Wednesday!