Here's another one I started way too long ago (in May 2016 this time). This one actually inspired the end of Confessions of a Sleep Singer, which in turn inspired me to come back and finish this. Enjoy :)

It started out like any other day.

Ravio woke up first. The smell of the food he cooked woke Link up. Link ate some, but barely finished it before rushing out the door. Ravio opened up his shop, even though he rarely got any business aside from Link. He figured he'd spend the day lounging around the house, not doing much at all, except for waiting for Link to come home so he could at least have someone to talk to.

He had just finished having his lunch when Sheerow started chirping wildly and flailing about.

"What is it, pal?" Ravio asked. "What's wrong?"

Sheerow flew over to the door and beckoned Ravio to follow him with a chirp. Ravio felt nervous as he walked over. As soon as he opened the door, his bird flew out of it. Ravio shut the door and flipped the sign on it over to say that his shop was closed, and ran after Sheerow. The white bird flew to Kakariko Village, leading him to the back of the house closest to the woods. Ravio felt his chest constrict.

Collapsed just in front of a fissure in the wall was none other than Link, covered in so much blood that he was barely recognizable.

"He can't be," Ravio whispered. "He ... can't!"

He got down next to Link on the ground and flipped his mangled body over. Ravio nearly vomited at the sight of Link's disfigured face. He stared at Link's chest, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it would rise and fall just the slightest bit, but it didn't. With each second of Link not moving that passed, Ravio's heart rate increased and tears welled up in his eyes more, but he took notice of neither of those things. The only thing on his mind was the fact that Link was...

"No," Ravio nearly growled. "No, you're not!"

He picked Link up as well as he could, which was barely picking him up at all, and dragged his body around to the front of the building. He rapped his knuckles on the door as loud as he could in quick succession. The house belonged to that wise old man—Rahasasla or Saharsala or whatever, it didn't matter—whom Ravio prayed would have a Fairy on hand to use on Link.

The old man opened the door, mouth dropping immediately. Before he could say anything, Ravio cried out "Fairy." It wasn't the question, 'Do you have a Fairy?'—it was a demand, 'Give me a Fairy.'

"I'm—I'm afraid I don't have one," Sahasrahla said, worry in his raspy voice. "Bring him to a Great Fairy Fountain! Now!"

"Where?!" Ravio asked.

Sahasrahla gave quick directions to Ravio and told him that he would catch up to him, and then Ravio was off. He felt adrenaline rushing through his pounding veins, giving him the power to properly hold Link and run as fast as he could. By the time he made it to the fountain, his arms and legs were burning. He fell to his knees, panting, with Link in his lap.

"Help," he pleaded to the Great Fairy.

The Great Fairy flew down to him and waved her wand over Link's body. Ravio's eyes darted to and fro over Link's body, looking for any sign that her magic was working. Her arm recoiled, and Ravio looked up at her. Though tears impeded his vision, he could tell that the look on her face was one of remorse.

"I'm ... sorry," she said. "It's too late."

She continued speaking, explaining how even Great Fairies like herself could only bring one back to life within a very short time of the heart stopping, but none of her words registered in Ravio's mind. Her voice was nothing more than background noise. Nothing she said mattered. Link was dead.

The Great Fairy had already shrunk away into the pure water of her fountain by the time Sahasrahla had walked into the cave, but he knew what she had said by Ravio's cries. Sahasrahla, though he would never admit it, felt like crying himself. He had known Link since he was just a baby, but even putting his own personal feelings for the boy aside, he knew that Link's death would bring forth the world's demise, and that was more than deserving of tears.

Sahasrahla slowly approached Ravio, and knelt down on the floor beside him. He placed a hand gently on Ravio's shoulder in an attempt to soothe him. Ravio shrugged it off and hunched over Link's body, crying into his bloodied clothes.

Sahasrahla let out a sigh. "We should hold a funeral for him."

Ravio didn't say anything, but in his mind, he screamed 'No.' A funeral meant this was all real.

"...Leave Link here, and let me take care of everything," Sahasrahla said. "I'll find you when everything is prepared. Go. Let yourself grieve some."

Ravio's fingers curled into fists, his nails clawing into his palms so hard that he wouldn't have been surprised to find crescent-shaped cuts there. He laid Link down on the stone before the fountain, and ran outside the cave without looking back. He didn't stop running until he got inside Link's house. Sobs wracked his body as he fell over against the door and slid down it.

'It's all my fault.'

Bile rose in Ravio's throat, and he just barely got his cowl off before it came out onto the floor. He had the urge to slam his head into the door, again and again and again until he was no longer conscious. Resisting the temptation, he scooted back until he was in the corner of the house, and curled in on himself.

'I killed Link.'

When Sahasrahla knocked on Link's door, Ravio still hadn't moved from the corner. Sahasrahla let himself in, stepping over the vomit that still sat unattended to on the wooden floor.

"Ravio..." The boy didn't respond. "It's not quite time for the funeral yet. I'd like your opinion on something." Sahasrahla waited for some sort of acknowledgment, but continued on when he figured he wasn't going to get any. "...It's customary to bury people with the thing they treasured most in life. I've known Link since he was born, and he never showed any materialism to me. I was wondering if, perhaps, since you have spent more time with him these past months than I, you knew of something to bury him with..."

Ravio tried to think of something. He was stumped. Link had never seemed materialistic to Ravio, either. In truth, however, the reason Ravio was stumped was that he could only imagine Link in a casket. ...Wearing green.

"His—his tunic," Ravio hiccuped out. "A-and hat. The g-green ones, n-not... Not the blue."

"Ahh," Sahasrahla said. He nodded to himself. "The boy did always have an affinity for his greens... Do you know where they are?"

Ravio wiped his face on his sleeves before getting up and walking to Link's wardrobe with his head down. He felt wrong as he opened it, but he did anyways. He pulled out the green hat and tunic that Link had put aside when he found his blue set.

Ravio's eyebrows drew together when he brought the items of clothing over to Sahasrahla, who was making a surprised face at him. He wanted to tell the old man to shut up, even though he hadn't said anything. Ravio couldn't help it if his eyes were bloodshot or if tears stained his cheeks or if snot dripped from his nose. He shoved the clothes forward again when it seemed that Sahasrahla was in a trance staring at his face.

"Thank you ... Ravio..." Sahasrahla cleared his throat and accepted the clothes. "Shall ... we go?"

His stunted speech angered Ravio further. "I know I look bad," Ravio said, his voice breaking. "You don't have to be so rude about it."

"I wasn't..." Sahasrahla trailed off and shook his head, mouth slack. "I'll speak to you of it later. Would you come with me and help me finish the preparations?"

Ravio nodded, even though he really didn't want to see any more of Sahasrahla and just wanted to be left alone to cry and hate himself more. Ravio's cowl that he had never gone outside without in Hyrule stayed on the floor forgotten as the two left the house.

His heart rate sped up again as they neared the church, knowing that Link's dead body was in there. He closed his eyes and followed Sahasrahla inside, only opening his eyes when he walked right into Sahasrahla. Ravio mumbled that he was sorry. Sahasrahla moved to the side, no longer blocking Ravio's vision. Ravio felt his entire body tense and freeze up when he saw Link's body in a casket.

It took everything in him not to completely break down again. Ravio didn't know how Sahasrahla did it, but somehow, Link was no longer mangled or covered in blood. He looked serene; like he was just taking a quick nap.

Except he wasn't just taking a quick nap. Link would never wake up again.

Ravio didn't realize that he was vocalizing as he began to bawl again until Sahasrahla looked back at him and told him he could have a seat at a pew where Link wasn't visible if that would make him more comfortable. Ravio wanted to do as Sahasrahla offered, but he found that he couldn't make himself move. It was like his blurry eyes were glued to Link. Even when Sahasrahla blocked the sight of Link's body again as he changed the boy into his green clothing, Ravio couldn't move his eyes.

His world was crumbling down around him, yet he could do nothing but stand there.

Link—though Ravio couldn't see him that well—looked much better in his green tunic, but he didn't look complete when Sahasrahla moved away. The old man had removed his baldric that had the Master Sword attached to it.

"Why?" Ravio squeaked out. He was too devastated to even feel embarrassed about his voice.

"Why what?" Sahasrahla asked.

"His sword..."

Sahasrahla laid the sword down next to some brown blob on the floor. Ravio couldn't make himself look at it to determine what exactly it was. "I realized that he can't be buried with it," Sahasrahla answered.

"Why not?" Ravio pushed. "I-it doesn't matter. The world is doomed w-whether he's buried with it or not."

Ravio couldn't make out what Sahasrahla mumbled in response. "I disagree."

Ravio wanted to scream as Link's casket was closed. The urge doubled when it was placed into the ground. It tore at his throat, begging to be let out. He just needed to scream and never stop screaming until the world met its inevitable end.

Arms wrapped around Ravio, drawing him out of his stupor. Though he couldn't see her face because his was shoved right into her chest, he recognized her as the blacksmith's wife from her voice.

"I don't know who you are," she cried, "but—oh, you look just like him!"

It was only then that Ravio realized everyone had seen his face, including Sahasrahla, which he figured was the true reason why the old man had been so shocked earlier. Ravio had just been too grief-stricken to think about it.

"Brenda," a deep, raspy voice said. It was the blacksmith. "Leave that poor boy alone... Let's go home."

The blacksmith's wife pulled away from Ravio, cupped both hands around his face, and stared deeply into his eyes. Ravio felt his heart break further looking at her, if that were possible. He knew that she was like a mother to Link, and that her son was one of the Sages. Not only had she lost her own biological son, but now she was losing her honorary one. She choked out a cry as she let go of Ravio and went into her husband's arms.

After Ravio watched them walk away, he realized that he, Sahasrahla, the priest, and the gravekeeper were the only people left standing outside. Everyone who had shown up for the funeral had already left, and the sun was setting behind on horizon.

The priest and Sahasrahla ended up going inside the church, leaving just him and the gravekeeper, who started to shovel dirt over Link's casket. Grief flooded over Ravio again as he watched the dirt pile up more and more until there was no more to be seen of Link's casket, until the ground was level once more. The gravekeeper sauntered off, his job done.

Sahasrahla came back outside then. He held the sheathed Master Sword in one hand, and Link's pouches in the other. "I would like to have a word with you, Ravio..."

"About what?" Ravio said. He sounded much harsher than he intended, but he didn't particularly care.

"Link spoke to me of Lorule... Of how their people were our people, yet different. ...You are Lorule's Link, are you not?"

Ravio only nodded in response, not saying what he truly wanted to say; his identity didn't matter, not when Link was dead.

"Then perhaps the world shall not meet its demise after all," Sahasrahla said.

"Wh-what are you..." Ravio sniffled and wiped his nose on his purple sleeve for the millionth time that day, "...trying to imply?"

"Ravio, do you not see? You—you—are our last hope."

"But—!"

"You are Link," Sahasrahla cut him off.

"No, I'm not Link! Link is dead!" As those previously unspoken words left his mouth for the first time, a sob involuntarily escaped him.

"And because he is, you must act in his stead. There is no other choice; only you are suitable to take his place."

"I'm not," Ravio said, looking back down at Link's fresh grave. "I'm—I can't...! Th-the entire reason I came to Hyrule, was—was because I can't! That's why I got Link!"

"Ravio," Sahasrahla said sternly. When he said nothing more after that, Ravio looked back at him. "The situation we have been caught in is one of life or death," he went on. "If you refuse to finish what Link started, then life shall no longer be a possible outcome."

"But I'll die, too," Ravio whimpered quietly.

Sahasrahla sighed. "There is a chance of you dying if you try, but there is a guarantee of you dying if you don't. Which will it be? Certain death to you and two whole kingdoms ... or a possible death, while if you live, the other outcome will be life for all?"

When it was put like that, Ravio knew what the obvious choice was, but that didn't calm his fears. If anything, it aggravated them more, because what if he tried and fell? Then the destruction of both Hyrule and Lorule would rest solely on his shoulders. And if Link couldn't even make it out alive, what were the chances of him making it out alive?

"...Take the Master Sword."

"I can't...!" Ravio didn't finish his sentence. The look Sahasrahla was giving him was enough to cut him off.

He grabbed the sword by its sheath and took it away from Sahasrahla. Ravio's fingers wrapped around the hilt of the Master Sword, and he slowly pulled it out. When it was fully removed, Ravio held it before him, its tip pointed towards the heavens. A flash of light came over the sword, and when it faded, the metal glowed a faint blue.

"The sword has accepted you as its master. This confirms everything. You must save Hyrule and Lorule!"

Ravio gulped. He looked down at Link's grave, and the pace at which tears rolled down his cheeks sped up again.

"...But you are not ready just yet," Sahasrahla said. "You need time to grieve, and you must practice with the sword before you set off with it. Yet, we don't have forever..." He sighed. "The night is drawing near. I must head home, Ravio. Come speak to me tomorrow."

Ravio nodded, and Sahasrahla handed him Link's pouches before walking away. Once he was all alone, Ravio dropped to his knees at the end of Link's grave. He sat the pouches on the ground and placed the Master Sword across his lap.

"I'm so sorry, Link," Ravio whispered. "I'm sorry that I didn't do what I should have from the start. I'm sorry that you're dead because of me. I can't change the past... I can't bring you back... But I'm going to try my hardest to make up for everything I've ruined."

He was terrified, but he knew he had to do it. For Hilda. For Zelda. For Lorule. For Hyrule.

For Link.

Ravio brushed his fingers gently over the blade of the Master Sword—the sword that had once belonged to Link, and all of Link's heroic ancestors. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt again and closed his eyes.

So quietly that Ravio wasn't sure he'd truly heard anything, a voice whispered to him. 'Master...'