Zelda, Day 16
The guards she passed didn't seem to notice that she wasn't one of them, and she took that as a good sign, although now she also wasn't sure which of them were Yiga or not. She assumed that most of the ones standing post and not patrolling would belong to the castle, but it was really impossible to tell. She realised quickly that she had no idea who to talk to. If she could at least lead some civilians out of the castle, though, that would be worth it. And - she wanted to go back to the training courtyard, to find Link, and get him out. It would be incredibly hard to face, but she didn't want anyone else to have to see that. Part of her wondered faintly if the shrine of resurrection would still work, but she had a feeling it wouldn't. Not now.
When she did get to the area above the training grounds, she passed what must have been a group of yiga chatting, or at least she assumed so by the way they talked in hushed whispers and didn't seem to be doing anything else. She hurried past on one side, and peered over the edge into the courtyard. There was still a blood stain there, and seeing it made her sick to her stomach, but… no Link. Her heart sank. What were they going to do with him? There'd be no use searching the whole castle him. She looked up, her eyes landing on the doorway past where the group of yiga guards were. That was the only way out of there without taking a much longer, and potentially more dangerous, route.
She steeled herself before walking towards them, but just when she thought she'd safely past them, one of them addressed her.
"Hey, you. How's the princess doing? Safe?"
Crap. She had no idea how to respond. If she responded like a Hyrule guard would, she'd be completely caught out.
"Um - maybe. Beats me," she replied with a nervous laugh, trying to disguise her voice, and the yiga watched her suspiciously. Their little standoff lasted long enough to raise suspicion, and now various guards from around the training guards were looking at each other apprehensively. It was a strange feeling, being in a standoff where no one really knew which side the other was on.
One of the yiga whispered something to the other, and within moments, guards were running at her from all angles. No - she couldn't have been caught this soon. No way. If she at least kept her hat on, or tried to fight, perhaps they'd still think she was another guard.
She pulled out her dagger, and held it defensively against one of the guards who was trying to apprehend her, but she wasn't exactly good with weapons, and he seemed to be able to tell. She swiped it up towards his face, but he responded with a sickle that fished the dagger clean out of her grip, slicing a clean semi-circle cut on the inside of her palm as it did so.
Another grabbed her from behind, forcing her down and holding her wrists tight together.
"Take her where the others are," one of the yiga said, and the one holding her down paused for a second.
"The lockup, dimwit!" the yiga snapped finally, and she felt herself hoisted up and being forced back the other way. She wanted to talk, but couldn't risk her identity being found out, and so she only tried to memorize the paths and hallways that lead to the basement of the castle as they went. At least if she was left with other captured guards, there was a chance they could escape together.
It took a few minutes to get down there, and she was surprised to see about ten to twenty other guards already behind bars. The yiga who had brought her down opened a cell that was already quite crowded; she wondered why everyone was being put into the same one.
"I'll ask again," another yiga said, one who had already been downstairs and patrolling them, "where's the princess?"
The guards were silent. Zelda admired their resolve, but a moment later, her heart dropped. The first yiga motioned to her captor to wait, and pulled out one of the guards at random.
"We're going to make an example for all of you and the newcomer here. If you don't tell me where she is," the guard said, pointing his sickle at all of them and then bringing it to the guard's neck, "he's dead."
The guards were shocked into silence, but the one with the sickle at his neck was resilient.
"Don't. Don't tell him," the guard begged to the others, and the yiga holding him grunted and pushed him to his knees, tightening his grip.
"You're all going to go one by one if you don't fess up already!" the yiga yelled, but Zelda had had enough. She was shaking.
"I'm right here," she declared. Immediately she wondered if it had been a mistake. She was already being held down. She didn't even have her dagger. The guards had no way to defend her. The grip on her wrists by the yiga holding onto her tightened. The man with the sickle at the other guard's thoat narrowed his eyes.
"You're not her."
"Yes I am. Take off my hat."
Her voice was quivering. The yiga ahead of her nodded, and the one holding on to her removed one hand to slowly lift her hat. Her blonde hair fell out from around her, and she stared defiantly at the yiga as his lips spread into a grin.
"Looks like there's a promotion in my future."
"Let him go," she demanded, gesturing to the guard the yiga was holding. He looked reluctant at first, but after some shuffling, tossed him back into the cell and let the gate fall back shut. The guards were obviously upset, and Zelda tried not to think too hard about what the girl in the tower had told her, about Link's telling them to look after her. They all believed that if she was safe, Hyrule was safe. But they couldn't rely on her. Just like she… couldn't rely on Link. But it wasn't his fault.
"I'm sorry," she said to the guards, trying to stay calm and confident. "This isn't the end. Today isn't the end. Thank you for fighting so hard. Hyrule has been through much worse than this," she reminded them, but it was doing little to console them. "This is all I can do."
"Enough!" the yiga yelled, and gestured to the one holding her to bring her downwards. He pushed her down to her knees, and Zelda stared hard at the stone floor below her as her hair was pulled up and out of the way. Hylia, this isn't how it was supposed to go. She'd been such a failure already since re-awakening. She'd cried so much lately that even now, before her execution, she couldn't find it in her to let even one tear fall. She was strangely calm - maybe because there was nothing more for her to do. She was done.
A sickle cupped around her neck. Some of the guards were crying, some were yelling, but the sound was numbed. She felt like she couldn't hear anything, and so she waited.
There was a grunt and a clang. In a quiet panic, she wondered if she was still alive after her head had been taken off, but when she opened her eyes, all she saw was the body of the yiga falling, crumpled, to the ground in front of her. The one who had been holding onto her had let go.
She didn't have time to run; she thought about it, but she'd already been grabbed again, and jerked backwards into the chest of the fake guard who had brought her down. He was holding her - tight. She didn't even have time to make sense of what was happening. Was he trying to squeeze her to death? Did he kill the other yiga so he could take the credit instead?
"You're insane."
Her chest twisted in knots. No- no, that sounded like Link-
She pushed against him to try to look up, and sure enough, under the royal guard's hat was messy blonde hair and striking blue eyes and-
"Link-" she cut herself short. She was breathless. How was he here? She pressed all over his body, lifted the shirt of his guard's uniform, only to find his chest intact; though there was a new scar this time. He was laughing. Was she dreaming? Had this all been some ridiculous nightmare? No, it was too real -
"When did you get yourself into a guard uniform? You completely fooled me," he asked, smiling as he looked her over. "It's cute on you."
Zelda's jaw was hanging open in shock. She shook her head, exasperated, trying not to be upset at the ridiculously casual tone he was taking, considering the circumstances.
"That- that- how did you-"
"I guess I forgot to tell you about the powers the Champions gave me," he said, looking sheepish. "Mipha's grace allows me to come back from the dead, like… a few times a day. It's ridiculous," he admitted, but Zelda was still in shock.
Link lifted a hand to cup her face, and his thumb swept over her cheekbone, pushing away tears she didn't know were there.
"I thought - I had thought you-" she tripped over her own words, trying not to relive the feelings she'd had earlier that day, trying to tell herself she didn't need to cry because he was here, but when she saw that even Link had tears in his eyes, she broke down.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Zel. You weren't supposed to be there. I was terrified when I saw you up there."
She dipped her head and gripped his arms tightly, holding him there as if he might disappear again. Despite his best efforts to wipe away her tears, many more were falling down to the stone below.
"I was scared that you'd be gone, and I never could really tell you, I-"
She was so embarrassed. She averted her gaze from him, but in her peripheral vision saw the feet of the other guards, still standing, waiting, witness to her breakdown. Great.
Link's hand slid down from her cheek to her chin, and lifted her head slowly, encouraging her to finally meet his eyes once more. In the firelight of the dungeons, his gaze was sparkling, and shining from salty tears that fought past his long lashes.
"It's okay."
Those words were surprisingly rejuvenating, like it was all she needed to hear for the time being. Knowing the guards were waiting for them was also a sobering thought.
"I'm - I'm sorry," she said suddenly, turning to face the guards. Some of them were still crying. Some were just shocked. A few were beaming. Link stood, and helped bring Zelda to her feet. She wiped away at her face, and then put her guard's hat back on, tucking her hair away underneath it once more.
"This was a lucky coincidence," she said, smiling a little as the guards laughed. "Since we're all here together, I think we can make something of this."
Link, Day 16
Zelda was comfortable taking charge already, and as she spoke to the guards and suggested that they use one of Hyrule castle's secret passages to get out of the castle, Link smiled - and then found himself surprised. How did she know about the passages? He didn't have time to ask, though, as Zelda whisked around to him, smiling, hands behind her back.
"Sound like a plan?"
Her enthusiasm was contagious as always, and he smiled softly back at her, nodding. It hadn't been pleasant earlier, dying and then coming back to life. He hadn't had to use Mipha's grace in… well, well over two or three years. Not since before Calamity Ganon. The sensation hadn't gotten any more pleasant in that time, but beggars couldn't be choosers. In a way, it was lucky that Zelda had arrived when she did, since all of the yiga were so quick to leave him for dead in the courtyard to try and capture her.
"That reminds me," he said, speaking of his own thoughts, "thank you for doing so well, guards. I can't be more proud. Drinks will really be on me this time around, when we get out of here," he laughed, and although Zelda looked a little confused, the guards were quick to cheer - with slightly hushed voices, of course.
"Before we leave, we should probably take these," he added, and opened the storage cupboard where the swords had been stashed. One by one, he handed them out, took one for himself, and then gave Zelda the sickle from the yiga guard, who was still lying unresponsive on the floor.
"Is he- going to wake up?" Zelda asked, looking a little concerned, but Link turned her away.
"Let's go," he said to the guards instead, and flashed an apologetic look at Zelda, who took the sickle with shaky hands and moved to the front alongside him.
"There's a crawl space at the end here that will let us outside. We might have to do some swimming or climbing to get back to the front of the castle. Just stick together; the yiga will have spread out, so we should be able to take down any we see. I'm going to be in front with Zel - the Princess, so don't fight anyone until I tell you they're for sure yiga. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" the guards replied in unison, and Link nodded sternly before leading the way through a small tunnel, making sure Zelda was right behind him as he went.
It was late in the afternoon by the time they got out; he hadn't realised how much time had passed. One by one, the guards filtered outside of the castle, and Link re-barricaded the tunnel with stones and rocks.
They ended up climbing along a pathway leading back up to the castle, and Link was reminded of when he had to sneak into Hyrule castle to take down Calamity Ganon, though the lack of skywatchers and guardians this time around was a relief. Now it was just yiga, but they weren't nearly as scary; and this time around, Link wasn't alone.
He glanced over his shoulder at Zelda as they lead the group of guards up and back towards the courtyard.
"How did you know about those secret pathways, by the way?"
"I read my journal the other day, and there was a lot written in there from when I was really young," she explained. "Speaking of, why didn't you tell me we'd been friends before you became my appointed knight?"
Link blushed. Zelda had journaled back when they were little, even? He turned away from her, focusing on the climb ahead, and tried to think of something to say that would justify it. It wasn't fair to have kept that from her, but he hated coming to terms with it himself.
"I was embarrassed," he finally admitted, still not looking at her as he gestured for the group to stay hidden behind a cliffside for the time being. "I still feel bad about how I treated you after I got the sword. It made things awkward, you know… later. I liked you from the start," he added, looking at her sincerely, hoping the message got through. Zelda searched his eyes briefly, and then her expression softened.
"By the way my journal's written, it was mutual," she replied, and Link felt his heart do a flip, but had no time to think about it. One of the guards scouting ahead was waving them past. But at the same time, he drew his sword, and Link knew immediately there was a fight.
"Wait here," he told Zelda, but before he could turn away, she'd grabbed his shoulder.
"No."
Her voice was even, and the determination and stubbornness in her voice told him there'd be no changing her mind. He stared at her for a moment, frustrated, and then gave in.
"Fine, but stay right next to me," he said, and with his free hand, took hers before running out from the shade alongside the other guards. On the cliff, yiga were waiting for them; there had to be at least a dozen of them.
"Don't be nervous," Link assured the guards, as they stood and waited for the fight to begin, "I know you can do it."
One of the bigger yiga men burst out of his guard uniforms, and the guards around Link and Zelda gasped as the red-uniformed Yiga member squared up with them, holding a katana aggressively.
"Stick right with me," Link said again to Zelda, trying to hide his nerves. He wished he'd left her by the cliff, but even then, who knew what would happen; there was nowhere perfectly safe for her right now. Better at least that she was there with him.
The yiga attacked all at once, but the guards responded in kind, yelling and drawing their swords to deflect attacks and throw them back. Zelda held her sickle close as Link waited for the large Yiga to attack. When he finally did, the sword swiped downwards and Link moved, pulling Zelda out of the way incredibly quickly before retaliating with a flurry of strikes with his own sword.
He took another glance at the battlefield. Already he could tell his guards would be okay, even if there were a couple injuries. The yiga, meanwhile, shook himself up and readied for another attack. When he did so, wind erupted from the blade of his sword, spiraling throughout the field in the form of a tornado that everyone had to avoid, including the other yiga. Link grabbed Zelda's hand and began to run as the dust-devil nipped at their ankles before finally fading.
The yiga was miles away now, but Link waited and listened amongst the sounds of battle, and after a moment the man had appeared behind him, aiming his sword down at Zelda.
Link pushed her aside; they'd swapped places in half a second, and he hit the katana away, causing the yiga to stagger before Link hit him again. A final stab seemed to do the trick, and Zelda couldn't look as the larger man fell, deadweight, to the ground.
He assisted with a couple battles after that, and most of the guards were fine, though some stayed behind with injuries to wait out the fight. The further they moved within Hyrule castle, the smaller their group became, until it was just five guards, Zelda, and Link heading into the Sanctum. Deja vu hit him like a ton of bricks, but he squeezed Zelda's hand as they went in, lost himself briefly in her green eyes, and knew: things were different this time around.