His steps echoed between the walls of the staircase. He remembered walking up these stairs, eagerly, with his father, looking forward to the time in the wilderness; hunting, swimming, living. He hid that part of him well, even his wife never knew how much of a child he was at heart. But she was gone, and happy memories never brought her back. Even 11 years on, his heart still hurt when he thought of her…

CRASH! Rhoam snapped his head round. Guardians, Hyrule's supposed "Saviours". Corrupted, entangled in Ganon's web of evil, and now turning on their controllers. While making his way to the Plateau, he had seen them at their worst, turning on the Sheikah townsfolk who had only just learnt how to really control them. Curse his ancestors for forcing them into exile; if they hadn't, they may have been able to control them easier, with the knowledge of how they work. Alas, the Guardians below him seemed to behave of their own free will. Currently, they were of one thought, destroying Hyrule. There was a momentary glimmer of hope; several hours ago, Rhoam had seen a flash of light in the direction of Kakariko. It had to be Zelda, her power awoken at last. But he could not rely on it, as it clearly wasn't that powerful.

CLANG! Snapped back to reality, Rhoam assessed the situation; several Guardians were at the bottom of the staircase, but it was a tight fit. They were all clambering to be the one to kill the king, the mighty ruler of Hyrule. Their pathetic attempts to please their master almost brought a smile to his face. Almost. The King had managed to slay a few of them before retreating to the Plateau. Yet they still came, relentless. And now there was no hope, one of them was readying a laser; these were powerful, and he had seen the damage they can do, so many bodies, flung in the air, screaming…

As the Guardian was about to fire, another one, in an attempt to reach the King, knocked it, and the laser blast, instead of hitting the King, hit a wall next to him. He was thrown back in the explosion, but was otherwise unharmed. As he stood up, he saw that the blast had blocked the staircase, the one path into the Plateau. For the first time in many hours, Rhoam smiled. Hope, at last.

This hope was lost, however. As he looked around him to see what was in his vicinity, he paled. He had walked into a Bokoblin camp. He knew their numbers were on the rise, but this was almost 50 of them. He struggled to find a solution. Then he remembered. He was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, trained swordsman. Gripping his sword, he turned to the nearest Bokoblin. It was readying for an attack, but Rhoam was quicker; soon, bodies were flying through the air, the King finally releasing his anger and rage he had built up seeing his kingdom crumble, and not be able to do anything. Wails could be heard over the relentless rain, as the number of Bokoblins dwindled. The battle was ending, and Rhoam quickly scanned the area. Seeing no movement, he turned to look for his goal. THERE! In the distance, the faint outline of the old wooden house he remembered fondly.

He slowly made his way to the shack, the brief respite it would bring. He kept his guard up, constantly checking his weak spots, never giving up. As he neared the shack, though, he began to hurry, and he missed it. A lone Bokoblin, one of the few survivors, looked down at the ground. A bow, and a quiver with arrows. Picking it up, the Bokoblin knew what to do. He pulled back, aimed, and fired.

Rhoam was about to walk around the corner to the door of the house, but he didn't. Before he could make it around the corner, he fell to the ground, an arrow protruding from the side of his neck. The shock overtook him, he screamed. The hard exterior was thinning; the real Rhoam, the scared, timid child was beginning to show. He was in pain. The screams continued, but were soon replaced by coughing and gurgling. Rhoam looked down at the ground in front of his face, and saw the blood. The hope was gone, there was no coming back from this. His last thought was of his daughter, Zelda. He wanted her safe.

The Bokoblin looked into the grey. He could see the King, on the ground. He was about to cheer, but was kicked, with force, off of the edge of the Plateau, to a certain death. The kick had come from the last Guardian on the Plateau, who was still scanning for enemies.

SCANNING… SCANNING… ENEMY SIGHTED...

WEAK LIFE SIGN… PROCEED TO TERMINATE TARGET...

READY LASER… READY IN 3...2...1..-

Zelda had done it. Sealed Ganon. But why couldn't she move? Then she realised, she wasn't powerful enough to fully seal him. She had to stay there, in Hyrule Castle, keeping Ganon from fully awakening…

OVERRIDE SIGNAL DETECTED… ENTER MODE: DORMANT…

Zelda's final thought was of her father. Where was he? She hoped he was safe. Hope was all she had now, hope for her Hero to awaken and save Hyrule.

Link's final thought was of the Princess. He had been vaguely aware of Sheikah carrying him somewhere, and being placed on a hard platform. Before he fully lost consciousness, Zelda's face came into his mind. That beautiful smile, the subtle laugh, the weight on her shoulders. All this, everything about her, mesmerised Link. He fell into an easy rest.

"..."

"...Open your eyes…"

"Open your eyes…"

"Open your eyes."

"Wake up, Link."