Resurrection

I've been here before.

I…him…they…have been here before. "I" is all I can say for now, for only "I" can speak as to the contents of my own mind. So far down, I see the pattern. There is always a Hyrule. There will always be a manifestation of His curse. A sword to cut through the dark. A companion, whether it be of the air, the sea, or shadow. Triangles three, for the three that come always, triangles always with the hole inside them. Empty.

But these are but words. Empty promises long made, echoing across an empty land, filling the one with empty body, bereft of spirit or soul. Empty too is the shrine.

"You should not be here."

Or so I think, as I draw out my sword, locking it with my shield. I have bow, boomerang, bombs, and so many other weapons. I do not fear voices. And should I need to flee, my steed is outside. For there is so often a horse. Even more times a mount, whether it be of the sea, sky, or steam. There are always patterns.

"Have you saved the land?"

So I walk in further into the shrine. It isn't that large, yet it feels so. It isn't that old, yet feels older than the land itself. It feels like home, yet with dread instead of warmth.

"I suppose you have," comes the voice. "You have enough equipment at least."

So I keep walking, and I see the voice's source. An old man, leaning against the rim of a pool. For bathing, I wonder? In this chill?

"I ask again, have you saved Hyrule?"

Or is the chill my own, and not of the air? I light a torch nonetheless, and come near the water. And I see him – one who looks as old as the earth.

"I'm alone," I say, smiling faintly. "I know that's dangerous, but I don't need to take a sword."

"Pardon?" he asks. But then he smiles. "Ah, yes. There is always an old man. Or a sage."

"Not always," I say.

"But mostly."

"Yes," I say. "I know the pattern."

He looks up at me. His eyes are clear, but deep – like looking into the night sky, all the way to the stars. He looks at me, and I look back. For a moment, I feel as if I know nothing. I lay the torch down, and the stars shine brighter.

"You see the cycle, but you exist within it," he says eventually. His gaze returns to the ground. "You didn't answer my question. Is Hyrule saved?"

"What makes you think that Hyrule needs saving?"

"You're here. You exist. That is proof enough."

I sheathe my sword and kneel down. "It's saved," I say. "Ganon is defeated."

"For how long?"

"Who am I to say?"

"Who indeed?" He lets out a bitter laugh, like the creaking of a tree yearning to be felled. "Not us, at least."

Silence dwells between us for a moment. The silence that comes after long adventure, knowing that you've saved the land. Knowing that others will come after you. Knowing that this all began with one called Demise, who ensured that there would always be a princess. That there would always be a hero. You've succeeded, as did others before you, their names and actions lost to history. A history that none can recall, for in a previous cycle, a hero saved the land only after it was destroyed.

"Do you know what this place is?" the man asks.

I shake my head.

"The Shrine of Resurrection." He coughs, and I see the blood hit the floor. I see no signs of wounds, so it must be some form of disease, or maybe his body just giving up on his soul. He doesn't have long left in this world – I reach out a hand, but he swipes it away. "You, here so soon…you have no need of resurrection, do you?"

"I don't understand."

"There will always be a hero. There'll always be a threat. I…" He coughs again. "I'm the only one who existed outside it. I'm the one who failed."

"I still don't-"

"I died before I was allowed to. I was reborn here, so I could fight my battle to the end. And seeing you…" He laughs once more, mirth mixed with death. "Did evil return so soon?" He smirks. "I heard that there were once three of us, or two of us. I've heard that one of us was aided by his ancestor. But never the two of us living together. In the same time, in the same place…" He grabs my arm, like the grasp of a man who is drowning. "You have saved Hyrule?"

I nod. I thought I already told him that though.

"Good," he says, lying back against the wall of the pool. "Now begone."

I stand up, but don't depart. I take out a waterskin and hand it to the old man. "Take this," I say.

"Is it dangerous?" he whispers.

"It's water, actually."

"Water." He swipes it away. "To the Dark World with water. I've had enough water for a lifetime."

Nothing makes sense here. So slowly, I ask, "what's your name?"

"Pardon?"

"Your name," I repeat. "Who are you?"

"My name," he whispers. "My name is whatever your name is." He looks up at me, and I see that for all his self-professed loathing of water, there's enough in his eyes to flood Hyrule (again). "What is your name?"

"Link," I say eventually.

"Then that's my name as well." He leans back against the pond once more. "Here we are, together. Heroes both."

"Come on," I say. "How can your name be Link?"

"It's the name I was born with," he sighs. "The name I died with, the name I was reborn with. The same name that links us all. That chains us all. The name that none remember." He coughs. Violently. "Time. Light. Wind. Legend. Nothing but titles. They're the only thing they remember us by. If they even remember us at all."

"I…"

I say no more. Finally I understand. Finally, it hits me. Finally…finally I see it.

"You're him," he said. "You're me. The Hero of the Wild."

"Is that what they call me?"

"Yes. I-"

"Then go away."

"I-"

"That you're here shows that I failed twice." He looks up at me. "I failed two-hundred years ago, and was revived. I saved Hyrule, but I see that you had to come once more. Within my own lifetime."

"But you're still…me," I protest. "I…you…we…"

"Were never meant to meet." He coughs. Absolutely retches. "I'm the hero who failed."

"No," I say. I help him up, as a son would his father. Granted, I never knew my father. Yet another part of the pattern. Our parents always die, so that children that were never their own could live. "You're here. You're alive."

"Not for much longer."

I glance at the water of the pond. It beckons to me. Tempts me. Maybe in the same way it tempted him. But I don't presume to suggest it. He's been here, all this time. He could have saved his life at any moment, if the water permitted it. But he seems ready. All I can do is ease his passing.

"Come on," I say, helping him out of the shrine. "I have something to show you."

"What…can you…show…"

He doesn't speak. More blood comes out. But within a minute, I show him what he has to see. I show him the land outside the shrine. I let him see the grass, the trees, a town in the distance. I let him see a land that is vibrant. A land with roads, and fields, a land that is inhabited by men, not monsters.

"I can show you your legacy," I say.

"Your…legacy…"

"I saved the world you left behind. The same world we all saved. Maybe the chain runs through us rather than around us."

"Wish…full…"

He speaks no more, for he is interrupted by the sound of a snort. He looks forward. He sees my horse come up to us. To him. One more piece of the pattern. One more player on the stage, as time goes beyond the third act. His curtain is setting. But I can keep the applause going as long as I can.

"My horse," I say. I watch as he sticks out a hand. I watch as she nuzzles it, as if she knew him as well as she does me.

"Does…name?" he whispers.

"Epona," I say. "Her name is Epona."

He laughs softly as she continues to nuzzle his withered palm. "Of course it is," he whispers.

I let him rest there, in the sun. I let him rest, as time passes, and as we both stand vigil. I stand as long as is needed, knowing that when his own sun sets, it will do so in the knowledge that night was again driven from this land. That he did not fail. He succeeded. It took him a hundred years, but he still succeeded. He will know that at the least, one of us will remember him.

He will know that we're all linked.

A/N

A theory I've seen floating around for awhile is that the Link in Breath of the Wild is resurrected (as per the Shrine of Resurrection), that Hyrule is in a sad state by the start of the game because he failed to stop Ganon originally, was killed, and thus had to be brought back. It's an idea that has potential for an interesting dynamic, but I'm left to ask, why? As in, we know that the absence of a Link does allow Ganondorf to conquer Hyrule in the Wind Waker timeline, and Link canonically fails in one branch of Ocarina of Time (setting the stage for A Link to the Past), but these events have shown that even if a Link dies or just isn't present, one always comes around in the end. So assuming whoever brought him to the shrine was aware of this, was resurrecting him the quicker option? And if so, does that affect the cycle of Link/Zelda/Ganon at all?

Probably not, and I'm likely over-analyzing, but anyway, drabbled this up.