WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES
==]—= ... =—[==
I hope this story was meaningful in some way to anyone who's reading it! I'd like to especially thank everyone who has reviewed; I really enjoy reading your responses, feedback, and suggestions for improvement! So thank you AriTheDoggo, Saffron 465, A random guest, Maya-430, Guest, aso083, The Silverblood Writer, cutecutie331, abciluvpie, and James Birdsong!
I've been talking about a lynel/shock arrow story for a while now, and this time I think I can say for certain that it'll be the next story I post on here. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck in your lives!
==]—= ... =—[==
I did it. There was no fear - only him, protecting him, and -
Zelda's heart lurched as she saw him, convulsing feebly as his crimson life stained the grass. Tears of raw agony trickled down his cheeks as he stared at her through half-closed eyes dulled by pain; he was whimpering feebly, shuddering, his rasping breaths uneven and strained.
"L-Link?" she asked shakily, kneeling at his side. "C-can you hear me?" Before he could respond she grabbed at her billowing white sleeve, tearing it from her arm - they were running out of material to use for his wounds - and pressing it to his side, inhaling sharply at his sudden weak cry of pain. Quickly she tore her other sleeve, twisting it into a long strip before pulling it around his torso and tying her makeshift bandage in place. "You're going to be just fine," she assured him, tearing her eyes away from white cloth that was nearly instantly drenched in red, trying not to understand the implications of his entirely colorless face. "We've nearly reached the stable; someone there will be able to help you, and everything will be alright…"
He closed his eyes for a moment, his features tightening into grim determination as he nodded stiffly. "H-help me up," he croaked, his voice tense and breathless and hardly recognizable. Zelda studied him anxiously, torn - she was not strong enough carry him, so he would have to do at least some of the walking on his own. But perhaps leaving him here would be better; the only question was, would he last long enough for help to get back to him?
Carefully she bent down, with some difficulty sliding the Master Sword through her own belt before pulling his left arm over her shoulders and curling her arm around him. "Ready?" she asked, forcing fear from her voice. Link didn't respond, his eyelids drooping, but she stood anyway, staggering slightly as she adjusted to his weight all but entirely resting on her. "Hold on."
Step by step she began towards the stable, wishing she could run all the way there and yet fearing to go too fast for Link's battered body to handle. His warm blood ran over her arm across his back; she hated the feel of it, hated the memory of his wide, desperate eyes as he tackled her to safety, as he turned just a moment too late to escape and bore the full brunt of a guardian's blast with a spray of blood -
His breaths came in shallow, wheezing gasps, each one sounding as if it was forcibly dragged from his lungs. His dragging steps grew weaker and weaker until Zelda was all but carrying him as he tried to scrape his right leg forward. Cold sweat drenched his slender frame as he quivered from the agony and the effort; desperate breaths swiftly turned to pained gasps, and his body trembled more and more violently with each slow step.
He made it to the bridge. Then it became too much, and he slid from her grasp, doubling over and clutching his bleeding side, coughing feebly as blood spurted from his lips. "Zelda," he choked, looking up at her with sad blue eyes clouded over with anguish.
She didn't know what to say as she knelt at his side. He was dying, and in immense agony from the looks of it. Blood drenched his narrow chest and dripped from his mouth and nostrils as he gazed at her.
"W-w-want to live," he choked out, slowly writhing as he spoke.
Her heart sank. "You will," she whispered pleadingly, gently taking his limp, cold hand in both of hers. "Link, y-you can make it."
His back arched. "I will… l-live.. F-for you," he promised breathlessly, even as his body trembled violently and he screamed hoarsely, his body twisting. Death had come to claim him, but he was fighting against it with everything he had left.
Soon he won't have a choice.
Tears spilled down her face, dripping onto his hand wrapped in hers. "Link, you'll be alright," she wept brokenly. "We're so close to the stable; we'll get help, and everything - everything…"
She couldn't tell if he could actually hear her or not. His eyes had lost their focus; his heartbreaking convulsions were steadily weakening, the flow of blood from his wounds slowing even as his pulse throbbed rapidly in his neck. A cough bubbled up from his throat and he whimpered, a fresh stream of blood trickling down his chin. Eyes with hardly any light left in them sluggishly rolled to meet her gaze. "Did we win?" he murmured, a violent tremor wracking his body.
He's dying… he's dying…
Struggling to hold her tears at bay for his sake, she gently lifted his head onto her lap and brushed his sweat-drenched hair from his eyes. "We made it to safety," she answered, blinking quickly and watching as a tear landed on his white face despite her attempts to hold it back.
"S-safe… R'you safe?" he mumbled, the words riding barely audible on a shallow breath.
Zelda's chest trembled and she held him close, even as his body twitched and his breath caught in his throat with a faint pained cry. "Yes," she gasped, fighting to hold steady, just a little longer -
"Good…" Link mumbled, his eyelids slipping closed. "I… didn't fail you…"
"No, no, of course not," Zelda soothed, wiping her eyes. "Y-you've never failed me; you were always… Link?"
Everything was silent. Link had gone suddenly very still, his face frozen in a final grimace of agony. His body, pale in stark contrast to the deep crimson splashed across it, had gone utterly limp on the weathered wooden planks of the bridge. Zelda swallowed thickly, feeling her barriers crumbling away. Tears spilled freely from her eyes and she sobbed, curling on her side next to him, wrapping herself around his right arm as if somehow it would bring him back. Whimpering his name as the sun set in fiery red and orange on the horizon, she prayed to the Goddesses to give him back, to heal his wounds, to not take him away as they had taken so many others that she loved…
And with a faint chime, a voice spoke in her head.
"Shrine… take him… of Resurrection…"
Startled, she raised her head slightly, looking around and finally settling her gaze upon the Master Sword, splattered in its wielder's blood, lying on the bridge some feet hilt flashed a pale blue, and the chime repeated itself. "Shrine… take him… Shrine of… Resurrection…"
Her heart pounded; she hardly dared to hope. "So… he can still be saved…?"
A whinny sounded nearby, and she turned, startled, to see two riders on night-black horses racing towards her. As they neared, she recognized the Sheikah uniforms. "Impa… Robbie?"
"Princess!" Robbie called, raising his hand in greeting. "Thank Farore - I feared we'd be too late when we saw the guardian blasts and the smoke -"
"What are you doing here?" Zelda asked, disbelief clasping her heart. This couldn't be real; she was hallucinating out of grief -
"After you and that sorry excuse of a knight left Kakariko, and we saw the Divine Beasts fall, we decided to send warriors down to see what we could do," Impa explained, dismounting and hurrying nearer. Her gaze darkened upon seeing Link's battered body. "Robbie and I scouted ahead. Purah is waiting at the Shrine of Resurrection -"
"Take him there," Zelda interrupted desperately, fresh tears stinging her eyes. "If you don't hurry, we'll lose him forever! Please…"
Impa gave her a curt nod, gently lifting Link into her arms. "I'll get him there safely, Princess." She paused, studying his wounds with sadness in her burning gaze. "It will take… a long time for these to heal…"
Zelda inhaled deeply, willing herself to be strong. Power flickered to life within her as she gazed into Link's still face, and confidence replaced the fear in her soul. "I will wait - and fight - as long as necessary," she whispered, slowly rising to her feet and stepping closer to Impa. Link was limp in her arms, his limbs dangling grotesquely. Biting her lip, forcing herself not to look at the blood already staining Impa's clothes, she reached out to cup his face one last time. "This is not goodbye," she murmured, hoping that his spirit, at least, could hear her words. Gently she pressed a kiss to his cold brow. "I will see you again, Link…"
==]—= ... =—[==
He raised his hand from the bridge with a startled gasp, his heart hammering wildly. Anxiously he pressed his hands to his side, almost certain that his tunic would be damp with blood, that he would be once again facing his death.
Instead, his tunic was damp only with his sweat. There was blood, yes, but not on his side - on his arm, and back, and thigh, and a few other areas, remnants of his battle with Calamity Ganon.
Breathing deeply, he struggled to calm his racing pulse. So this is it. This is where I… died.
And… that explained what had happened to his side.
He could remember the pain, the merciless agony of bleeding out. And though that pain had faded over a century of healing, even the Shrine of Resurrection had not entirely been enough.
It had been petrifying, waking up in the dark chamber and finding the massive expanse of dark scar tissue on his right side, the edges ragged and uneven, just a slightly different texture from the rest of his skin. When he found a matching scar on his back, he realized that something had impaled him - something had torn a hole through his body, damaging goodness knew what along the way.
Along his travels, he had continually gained proof that that, indeed, was what had happened, though he didn't truly remember it. Every once in a while, usually after a strenuous battle, his side would seize up with near-crippling pain, suggesting that the Shrine hadn't healed him perfectly. And many of the people he'd encountered, especially those who claimed to know him before all that, told him that the hero had fallen in battle defending the Princess. A wound going straight through him was more than enough to be fatal.
But this was the first time he'd actually remembered his death. Shuddering, he curled his arms around his stomach, feeling nauseous.
"...Link?"
He scrambled to his feet at Zelda's approach, doing his best to keep a grimace from his face. "Y-you couldn't sleep either?"
She shrugged with a soft smile. "I haven't had to sleep for a hundred years," she murmured, holding her arms around herself to ward of the night's chill. "I believe I've… forgotten how, if that makes sense."
Link nodded slowly, remembering the days after he'd awakened in the Shrine - it had been difficult to find any rest, no matter how tired he was. "I understand." He tilted his head, looking at her. She still wore her travelling clothes, the sleeves still torn and ragged where she had ripped them away to bind his wound all those years ago. "I'm sorry," he whispered, reaching a hesitant hand out before quickly pulling it back to his side. He bowed his head, cheeks slightly flushed. "I was… asleep… all while you were fighting for this kingdom. I… should've been there." A hint of anger entered his voice, and a wave of self-hatred washed over him.
"You were," Zelda told him quickly, taking a step closer. "Link, I wasn't exactly… in my body all those years; I was in the Sacred Realm. Otherwise I would have aged. You were always with me."
Link swallowed thickly. Dead. "With you… in the Sacred Realm?"
She nodded. "You weren't entirely there - you were a bit transparent, if that makes sense. I believe a part of you, a small part, was still in your body, providing just enough life to allow yourself to heal within the Stasis. Certainly you weren't alive, but you weren't quite dead, either. But the point is, you never once left my side. At times you added your strength to mine and wielded a portion of the Triforce against the Calamity, even though my powers tried to reject you."
He blinked slowly, feeling a bit of the weight lift from his shoulders. Good. So she didn't have to bear that all alone.
Until I woke up, and my spirit left her.
This is all because I was in that prison! If only I hadn't done… whatever I did.
A feather-light touch roused him from his thoughts. "I think I can guess why you're out here," she murmured, sliding her fingers around his hand. "You… remembered."
He looked away from her, turning his gaze instead to the river flowing peacefully beneath them. "I've crossed this bridge so many times, but only today, crossing it with you, travelling here from the field with you, did anything feel… off about it."
"That must have been… quite the shock."
Link inhaled deeply and let his breath out in a misty cloud. "Not exactly. I'd… put most of the pieces together already. The hero fell defending the Princess, shortly after Hyrule Castle was overrun by guardians, and I woke up with a massive scar…" He shrugged. "I'm glad I was with you, though. After I … died. Even if I don't remember…"
There was silence after that for several moments. Slowly Link sat down, letting his legs dangle over the water travelling steadily southward, reflecting the soft glow of sunset fireflies as they floated delicately through the still night air. Zelda joined him, not relinquishing her grip on his hand.
"This may be too deep a question," Zelda said, each word slow and deliberate. "But… how much do you remember of… of back then?"
He tilted his head, turning his gaze to the stars before closing his eyes, searching his mind. "Not much. Just… glimpses, flashes of memory, of sensation. Lots of things don't make much sense at all. There was a frog…" His voice trailed off and he frowned, trying to picture it in his head. "There was… a lot of fear. Darkness. I can't tell if it was physical or literal, or maybe both, but… it was there, often." He shifted, leaning back on the hand that Zelda wasn't holding, feeling rough wood beneath his palm. "But after that, there was also hope, and… and something close to happiness. I'd done something - I can't remember what - and ended up in the dungeons. I… I remember feeling terrible about it; the guilt is still there, even though I can't - can't remember why." He paused, glancing sideways at the Princess, who was intently studying the river beneath them. I haven't spoken to anyone this much before - not since the Shrine. But it just feels… comfortable. Like… like I've done it before… I think I can tell her anything, and she wouldn't mind listening…
Clearing his throat with slight embarrassment, he went on. "You were there, too. Actually, that's… that's all I remember about being in the dungeons, and that confused me, because I didn't - I don't think you'd done something bad, too, but I couldn't think of any other reason for you to be there so much." He chuckled nervously, feeling exposed and uncomfortable, delving into a past life he wasn't entirely certain about. "I know it must sound strange that I mostly remember only hope and happiness from all of that time in the dungeons, but it's true. It was… because of you." His smile faded; he closed his eyes again, trying to focus. "I was… alone. Even before the dungeons, I can't remember anything but that darkness, and the feeling of being lost… alone. After that… you were with me so much of the time. You made the loneliness fade. You made the darkness seem like a bad dream, and nothing more -" He stopped, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Was it there when you woke up?" Zelda asked softly. "The darkness, I mean."
Link felt himself grow tense. "It was," he answered carefully, not wanting to upset her. Not wanting her to think it hadn't been worth it.
But there had been so many days, so many nights, where the yawning black gap in his memories threatened to swallow him whole. Times when he could do nothing but curl his arms around himself and sob, crumbling beneath the weight of the world on his shoulders. Hours spent staring at his left arm and realizing what he'd done to it, and feeling the temptation to do it again, to make himself hurt, to punish himself for his weakness and inadequacy and failings…
"I don't know if it'll ever go away," he murmured with a shiver. "Zelda, I realize it's been a hundred years, and… and I know I might not be remembering everything the right way. But… you were my only friend. Y-you're still my only friend; I might be able to talk to people here and there with a smile, but I'm… I'm afraid. I don't know how, or even if I should, confide in them about… all of this." He stopped himself, taking in a shaking breath. I'm rambling. "The point is, I… don't know if I could have survived long enough to get killed by a guardian if not for you." The scar on the underside of his left wrist seemed to prickle; it was the scar that frightened him more than any of the others. "Please - I know we might be… going our separate ways now that the Calamity is gone, and you might want to -"
"I'm not leaving," Zelda interrupted, turning at last to face him. "Not unless you ask me to. Believe it or not, you inspire me, despite - or perhaps because of - everything you've dealt with. You say I helped you - well, you helped me, too. And besides that, you're my friend, Link." Her delicate cheeks seemed to flush. "Maybe more than that, someday. But I want to stay by your side through everything that happens next."
Link felt relief wash through his soul, and he met her gentle smile with one of his own. "Thank you," he whispered, clasping her hand in both of his.
Her blush deepened as her gaze flickered briefly down to their joined hands. "So many things have changed," she murmured. "I've only seen glimpses of what has become of Hyrule through your eyes, through the bond our spirits share. I'm afraid, Link, of what I will find - but you help me conquer fear."
He wanted to duck his head, as he usually did when he felt bashful. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from hers. "I'll do as much as I can for you," he vowed, his heart pounding with the sincerity of his words. Offering a small smile, he murmured, "There are sure to be many dark nights ahead for us, Z… Zelda. No recovery is ever easy. But I promise that I'll always be there for you."
If lightning strikes again, I'll be ready. I won't fall.
