Dira's elation warmed her skin as she stared at the Zora. Flailing her arms, she called out to it, but the Zora moved back within the water, drawing ripples upon the surface. Dira didn't let that stop her, and she ignored the protests coming from Link, Jin, and Keras, and dove into the water toward the retreating Zora.

"Great," Jin said, "now what?"

"We go after her," Keras said. She dove into the water and Link and Jin glanced at each other before following after her. Dira didn't get as close to the Zora now that she hid amongst the thick vines hanging off the sides of the rocky surface near a waterfall. With a closer inspection, the Zora's blue skin darkened in the water, and was lighter silver in the sun.

"Hi," Dira says, sincere as she waved her hand, "we're not going to hurt you."

The Zora stared at her, but didn't move away from the vines.

Link looked away, every time he blinked, the Zora would remind him of another. Yet he never met a Zora before. All he could remember were flashes of a young woman running towards her God and being eaten by it.

"Dira," Jin warned, but she swam closer to the Zora.

The Zora opened her mouth and spoke soft and light, except her language was obscured.

"What?" Dira asked.

Link frowned, but Dira didn't stop swimming until she noticed the Zora was about to move is when she finally did come to a stop in the water.

The Zora struggled for a moment, but her voice came through and the words were Hylian. "What are you?"

"I'm Sheikah," Dira answered, before turning her body and pointing at her friends. "Keras is Gerudo, Link and Jin are Hylian. We live in Akyllan village. It's not too far from here."

The Zora glanced between them, but her eyes went back to Dira. "I've heard of you, the races amongst the land. I don't know the village."

"Of course. It's not near any water, our fisherman go to lakes or even the ocean for resources." Dira moved closer, the water rippling with her movements. "We've haven't come across a Zora before, but we know where your Domain is."

The Zora slowly left the wall covered vines. "Ekos. My name is Ekos."

Dira laughs, and to Link, it's genuine as she whispers, "She's beautiful." As Dira swims closer to Ekos, a sharp pain runs itself throughout Link's body and he winces, gritting his teeth and tightening his eyes closed.

Flashes of memories that feel foreign as he stares at a young Zora in red and white designs and blue and silver regalia upon her slim form. The young Zora is warm in tone, and shy in her features. But tragedy followed him to her, and she was left trapped in a beast after it slaughtered her.

A wet hand brought him out of those painful thoughts and he snapped his head to the side where Jin now swam beside him. "Are you alright?"

Link nodded, breathing heavily. "I'm fine." But he wasn't sure if he was, and looked to Dira and the Zora, Ekos, drawing closer to each other.

"I'll return," Dira promised, "if you will."

The Zora looked uncertain by the promise, but soon a smile formed upon her face and she nodded.

Keras was the first to turn, then Jin, and Link, and soon after, Dira, followed them. When they reached the shore. Link's hands were wrinkled, and he was shivering from their long stay in the water. Jin and Keras grabbed the towels they had brought with them, and wrapped themselves in it before offering the others to Link and Dira.

Jin sat beside Link on the soft grass with the towels over their shoulders. Water dripped from Link's blond strands, and slithered from his face to his jawline. But his gaze stayed on the water, and on the Zora that still watched them.

"I can't believe it," Dira said as she and Keras appeared from the trees behind them where they had dried off and dressed, "that we seen a real Zora."

"It was dangerous," Jin said, standing and reaching for his clothes lying several feet from Link. "Zora's are dangerous to be around."

"There was only one," Dira said, shaking her head. "It wasn't like she was going to attack us."

"They are warriors."

Dira scoffed. "So are we."

Link broke his gaze from the Zora when she finally lowered herself into the water and disappeared from sight. He dried himself off while Dira stomped away back into the forest with Keras.

"I can't believe her," Jin said, pulling his shirt on.

Link looked at his clothes and began to pull them on. "She's right, we haven't seen a Zora before. Only heard stories thanks to Garik."

"But they're dangerous." Jin held a small knife in his hand, and Link figured he had it when they entered the lake. He was careful, but it was unnecessary.

"She didn't attack us," Link reminded, pulling his shirt over his head. "Either way, we both know that we wouldn't have let anything happen to Dira. Keras was there too, we were all cautious of what could've happened, but nothing did. And finally coming across a Zora is a bonus." He stepped closer to Jin who put away the knife. "Just think of all the things we weren't allowed to see in the world, and we finally got to witness a small part of it in our favorite place."

Jin raised his head and smiled. "You're right. It was interesting."

They both headed into the forest where they caught sight of Dira and Keras waiting ahead of them. "More than interesting, miraculous," Link said, "we didn't die, and Dira got her necklace back."

What bothered Link the most was how he felt about seeing the Zora in the first place. About the water that surrounded him and pulled him under. That made him feel invincible and welcomed. And yet the suffocating pain curled in his chest and throbbed on all sides of his head.

Link.

His name spoken in two different voices, feminine in tone, and soft yet filled with sorrow. He knew he failed them, and he had to do what he had to at the time, but even his own destiny brought him to his knees. He wasted too much time and he wished to return to one moment, and another, but they were never the same.

"Hey," Jin whispered, but Link knew his voice was louder by the time his feet came to a stand still in the middle of the woods. Jin's hands were on his shoulders, and he could hear the voices of Dira and Keras mixing together until his mind stopped.

"What's wrong with him?" Keras asked.

"I don't know, we were talking, and then...he stopped responding to me," Jin said, voice filled with worry.

"This is the second time this happened," Dira spoke, taking Link's left hand. "Let's bring him to Tala."

Jin twined Link's right hand with his own, and they walked through the forest. Leading Link away from the lake, away from the memories that swallowed him, but he was still numb and empty of thought that even his lips wouldn't move to speak a word. They returned to the village, and Link felt the eyes fall upon him as they walked through until they climbed the wooden steps of one of the houses that belonged to Tala, the village Healer.

"Tala," Dira called.

An older woman with brown hair streaked with grey pulled to the back of her head turned at the sound of her name. Her green and blue eyes spotted them, but her gaze fell upon Link as she crossed the room to him. "What's wrong with him?"

"We don't know," Keras answered, "that's why we brought him here."

Tala nodded and pointed toward a hall. "Bring him to the room over there. I'll have to inspect him."

"He wasn't in any fights," Jin told Tala, loosening his hand and breaking contact with Link as Dira and Keras led him down the hall. "He simply stopped responding to...us."

"It's okay," Dira cooed, bringing Link into the small room with a lone bed in the middle near a square window. A white sheet divider sat on the side, including a desk with a ceramic basin, and a water jug on the floor. Dira sat Link down on the bed, keeping her hand intertwined with his.

"He didn't hit his head, did he?" she asked Keras.

Keras stayed standing with her arms crossed over her chest. "No. He didn't. This was before we arrived to Fado Lake. He had one episode—"

"Don't call them that," Dira said, cutting her off. "Nothing is wrong with him...he's…" She frowned at Link who stared at the wooden floor, breathing evenly.

"We're both worried for Link's health, but since he hasn't responded before and after means something. Right now, we should consider them episodes until we know for sure," Keras said gently.

Dira nodded reluctantly.

Tala and Jin entered the room where Jin informed Tala that Link has been suffering from headaches since he woke up.

"Do you think it was an injury before today?" Dira asked Tala who held a small blue translucent jar in the shape of a scallop in her hand.

Tala shook her head. "He would've had symptoms beforehand, you said this happened twice?" she asked.

"Before we went to Fado Lake, and while we were leaving," he told her.

"This jar has herbs in it that will help, but from what I can see and what you told me. He doesn't have any physical injuries. This can be emotional or psychological. The concoction should help for a few days," Tala passed the jar to Jin, "I want someone to watch over him and see if he'll have anymore episodes in the next few hours or the following day."

Jin nodded. "I'll watch over him."

Tala tilted Link's head back and poured some of the liquid inside the jar between his lips. The taste was cool and sweet against his tongue. Once she was finished, she left the room while Dira and Jin helped Link to his feet. They followed Tala into the next room where she gave Jin three thin vials.

"Mix these within the jar and the concoction should last several days. Give them to him in the morning and at night. If these episodes persist, I do suggest an extra dose, but if he becomes unresponsive for a long period of time. Bring him back to me."

Jin nodded, pocketing the vials, and leading Link from the home with Dira and Keras.

"I don't like this," Dira said, caressing Link's knuckles. "He hasn't said anything since we left Fado."

"I know," Keras whispered. "I know."

"We'll wait and see," Jin said. But none of them sounded as reassuring in Link's ears, they simply drew quiet.

They walked back to Link's home where Dira and Keras left them. Jin helped him into the house where he set Link down in his nook area before going to the kitchen and making cups of tea. He also made a sandwich and brought it to Link who stayed still, staring at the bookshelf across from him.

"I'm here," Jin whispers, taking Link's hand. "I won't leave you."

Link blinked his eyes, but he did not hear Jin's words. Instead his mind replayed a scene that was foreign to him. A scene that left him crippled in pain as a boy holding a sword bestowed upon him in his small woodland village. The world spun and he was in a place after she was taken from him. The water was ice cold and he slipped every time he tried moving along the iceberg in her domain, and Link called her name out.

"Ruto!"

But his voice split between two, a young boy with pain too much for a child to bear, and a young adult who was left in charge of a princess, but the softness of the Zora who returned to her home only to die to the beast she commanded.

His scream echoed when the memories returned, and what fate had stolen from the world. "Mipha!"

He had fallen to his knees in grief for both who he loved, the panic that made him fight back the tears and swing his sword. The frustration that he couldn't do anything at the time of when they were outmatched. Friendship spiraled around him, and he recalled their smiles that was taken away. They all had a role to play, a responsibility woven in their destinies that were rewritten over and over again upon time itself.

"Link?" Jin's voice grew in fear and shock when Link felt his body jerk forward and he landed on the floor. The cup of tea and the sandwich were silent in his ears when they landed before him. A pained gasp leaving his lips as he tried fighting back the harsh cutting memories, but he was pulled under once more before he could feel Jin's hands on his arms.

What he witnessed next were foreign memories like the others, but this didn't feel as familiar. They were new. Brand new memories that left a painful ache within his chest. His eyes opened, and the flash of lightning cascaded through the darkening sky as rain drenched the ground around him, soaking his clothes, and his hair slick against this face.

He heard a scream through the chaos and he looked for who called his name. Dira stood against a rock. She wore dark blue and black scaled armor that wrapped around her body with arm guards over her hands and a fish designed helmet covering her head. She held a long black bow and a silver quiver strapped to her back. She pulled at the string, and at the tip of the arrow glowed a faint light as Dira whispered to it, and the arrowhead became encased in thick sharp ice.

Link looked to where she was shooting, but all he could see was darkness, flashes of electricity, and ice.

"Link," Jin whispered, his hand holding Link's waist, keeping him close. "Stay done until they can get to us, and Keras can—"

"What?" he asked, and his voice was far away, but his eyes went to Keras who was in the center of the battle, swinging her dual scimitar at monsters forming from the shadows. She was dressed in red and browns, skin exposed and seared shut with new and old scars. The lightning danced around her as she spun and sliced through the creatures. Dark blood sank into the earth as she drew close. Dira flanked her, shooting any monster that tried attacking Keras without her knowing their presence.

Link tried moving, but Jin held him still. And he felt a sharp pain in his gut and looked down where he spotted dark red slithered along grass and dirt coming from beneath him.

I'm bleeding.

Link blinked water from his eyes as his breath hitched. Jin pulled him up, and he winced, a pained groan leaving his lips, but Jin situated Link against his chest with his arms tightening around him.

"It's okay. Keras is coming, she'll heal you. She'll heal you," he whispered in a heavy mantra.

Link didn't know what was happening, but he recognized one thing from the chaos around him. It was the thing he wouldn't let go, and knew wouldn't leave him even if he tried throwing it into the ocean, or burning it into melting steel. It would come back to him, because it was his, and only his to own, to wield, to control.

The sword.

The grip was blue and green, and long silver steel that pulsed with light that was covered in red and black blood. He had taken it from the pedestal, and never was he separated from its power that told him this is who he was.

But Link didn't know, and he was weary, and he closed his eyes to the torment of his fate.