Chapter Eleven: Tangent Lines Part 4 of 6

Day 131

Link is exploring the mountains and caverns in the Tabantha region. He's having fun, bundling up against the cold as he searches for treasures and supplies. He'll have lots of climbing stories to tell Nasira and Sakhr when he sees them again. Ducking and dodging the hovering Guardians was nerve-wracking, but the treasure chest they were circling was worth it. It's moments like these, when he can feel his heart pounding and his senses stretch while a calm settles over his mind, that make him feel alive.

Link checks the amount of minerals he has and smiles. Almost enough.

He walks the runes in the Rayne Highlands, hiding from the surplus of monsters around every bend. As he climbs, the hero wonders why it all looks so familiar. Then the light hits the rocks just so, and the young man grimaces. One of the pictures on his slate was taken around here. He almost doesn't want to do this.

(Because they aren't his memories.)

Link sighs after activating the panel for the Tena Ko'sah Shrine. His slate is already out, might as well look around-

"Help!"

The hero snaps towards the call, and blinks with disbelief at what he sees. The Yiga are swarming up the tower he hasn't yet activated. Link starts running before he thinks about it, recognizing the voices calling for help. Two humans from the Tabantha Bridge Stable are struggling to get free from the Yiga carrying them up the tower. Link's heart skips a beat as he paraglides midair, unable to stop the first person from being thrown off.

The person vanishes and he doesn't know whether to be relieved or not. Then the second is pushed off just as he lands on the rocks and starts to scale. He stops at the edge of the malice, unsure whether to climb and confront the Yiga or hope the people will appear again. He hesitantly starts climbing.

A minute later, a person drops from thin air. Link pushes off and catches them, aware that the Yiga who missed gabbing the person are watching. He settles Jaymie – how did they catch Jaymie – on the ground far away from the malice, and then glares up at the Yiga. The enemies cackle and disappear within the sun's glare.

"Thanks for the save, Link," Jaymie says, standing on shaky legs and clasping the hero's shoulder. They look at Link with shaky relief, and then stare up at the tower. "Mary's gone to Skyward Sword. I don't know where it would drop her."

An hour later, Link and Jaymie have climbed the tower and the hero still is no closer to understanding how it managed to send them to a different world. He activates the tower while the human hangs close to the edge, looking for enemies and the missing woman. Link settles next to them, and they wait.

At sunset and no sign of Mary, Link escorts Jaymie down and back to their stable. He promises he'll stay around the area and search for her. The hero in him wants to wait for her to drop down. The impatient part of him – the darker side he hides so well – whispers it's a pointless use of time. He has other things to do than wait for Mary, no matter what his slate chirps at him.

Link compromises, though he would rather avoid this. With his Sheikah Slate out, he finds the memory.

("And stop following me!" He can feel her indignation burn like it's his own.)

It's a lot different of a memory than when he saved Princess Zelda from the Yiga. Link puts the slate back on his hip, impassive. So their relationship wasn't as great as everyone implies. At least, not always. He wonders when it changed. At what moment did the princess realize Hyrule wasn't some place of rainbows and sunshine and agree to him as her bodyguard?

Link teleports to the top of Tabantha Tower. Useless or not, he'll wait the night. This way he has an excuse to read through the tabs on his slate while he waits. Two tabs, specifically. One is only known by himself and Dr. Purah. The de-aged doctor was very interested in it, especially since it doesn't mesh with the Hyrule Compendium but works close the same way.

The Human Compendium fills information in as Link talks to the humans around Hyrule. There are 120 slots, and he's not even close to halfway. Mary's section has her labelled as 'Missing', but that doesn't mean anything. He switches to the second tab, the one only he can access and only he knows of, and breathes a sigh of relief when he reads 'Alive'.

(While he can understand why the tab was locked, he doesn't understand why the Royal Family was the one to lock it nor why it only unlocked when Ruto started playing with the slate back on the Great Plateau. Still, it's his secret to know and no one else's.)

Day 132

When Mary doesn't show up, he loads a previous hour-

Day 131

-and gets to scavenging. There's a goal he's excited to meet. A side quest he thinks is worth every rupee.

Day 132

It's late in the day when one of his stops at the tower proves fruitful. Mary, attempting to climb down, breaks down crying and throws herself into his arms. "I was so scared!"

He comforts her, helping her climb down and delivering her sleeping form to the stable. Jaymie thanks him and wonders if he could stay.

'Not today,' Link replies. He still has things to do, places to explore. Jaymie gives a quick hug and tells him they appreciate him bringing Mary back.

"Be safe."

Link wonders why lockdown of the stable was lifted for him, but doesn't ask. He goes out into the world to fine some more mining spots.

Day 133

The day passes much the same, but at night he dons the Gerudo female outfit and walks into their market place. Link sells practically everything he'd found over the past few days before browsing through the items. He's gathered more money than he thought, so a couple quests can be scratched off the lists.

Desert Voe Trousers for Sabastian.

Opal Earrings for Nasira.

Topaz Earrings for Paya.

Gerudo Veil for Ayla.

Gerudo Sirwal for Yin.

The last one is why he is doing all of this now. For the others, the items aren't necessary. They are quests his slate told him would be next on the list of wooing items. Yin, however… He has never seen Yin with shoes on and when he didn't have any it hurt to walk. Humans are softer, lacking the natural magic that protects everyone in Hyrule. He didn't think she liked shoes, but if that's the next step…

He dyes the cloth items a nice black and white. He gets sidetracked from delivering the items by Dr. Purah, who has come down from her lab to search for her human assistant. He spends the day looking, but there's nothing to be found.

Day 134

Link pretends that Impa isn't cackling when Paya blushes and stutters as he hands her the jewelry.

He doesn't get any other quests, which is odd. That's now her and Lasli who he can't move forward wooing until something happens in the village. He's certain there's someone in the village that needs help in order to trigger the next quests, but he doesn't have the time to look around.

He visits both Sabastian and Ayla in Zora's Domain next. He's behind on their quests, but they both seem very excited (almost worryingly happy) to get gifts. When he tries to ask what's wrong, they deflect. Their next quests are also expensive gifts, so he spends time talking and catching up with the few other humans (and eligible Zoras).

Link gets sidetracked and fishes the rest of the day away. He warps back to the Tabantha region, feeling uncomfortable going through the second tab in Zora's Domain. He opens up Yin's second tab page, a bit of a bad habit to check hers and others when the suitor number is higher than one, and blinks a bit stunned at the brand new seven beside her suitor's section. She was already the highest at six, with the next highest person having three suitors.

He's still ranked first however. He doesn't know who else is tacked onto her list, but he'll be sure to stay ahead of them too.

Day 135

Isabella blows him off and Cain looks ready to stab himself when he asks about Yin's whereabouts.

(She wasn't in the forest, and he's checked all her usual places before deciding to wait at the stable. There won't be any waiting, apparently.)

Link checks to make sure he can't rewind time back five days before methodically going through the second tab to make sure she's alive. The tightness building in his chest eases, confirming it. She's alive and he can breathe and think about how he's going to get her back.

(When did he start to care this much?)

Cain is still worried and looking desperate. Without hesitation, Link reveals the one secret he's been keeping close to chest and not wanting to talk about at all.

Link shows him the Perfect Match Tab with her page open.

Cain slumps forward on the table, smiling and laughing. "Thank you."

Link warps his way up Lake Tower and jumps off.

He does it again.

And again.

Over and over.

(When did he start to care this much?)

His worry turns to frustration, and after hours of trying he slumps against the pillars to rest his head in his hands. He stares at the slate, her page open once again. It won't offer him any quests to save her. It won't tell him how to be the hero here. What use is he when he can't rescue the ones who believe in him?

(He started to care when she blew them off because they blew her off.

When she let him grieve and remembered time rewinding.

When he held her hand after stern eyes kept his gaze and she told him, "You are real.")

Where are you? Link leans back and lets his head hit the stone. How can I get you back?

The Yiga threw Jaymie and Mary off a tower, why wouldn't they be the ones to have thrown Yin off too? There had to be a reason. Also, he doesn't remember seeing any Yiga around since the tower incident.

It might be time to pay them a visit.

Day 136

"Twenty-seven humans," says what Link can only assume to be the newest leader of the Yiga. The man smiles bright and happy as he presents the report and Link's hands turn to fists. High up in the rafters, hidden behind planks and darkness, Link's stomach clenches and he tries to hide the dark swirl of emotions badgering him. He tries to be calm. "And not one of them hit the ground. You have all outdone yourselves.

"It's too bad most didn't come back with items. We'll just have to keep this up until they get the message, I guess."

The slate is silent, even long after the report is over and Link is taking his anger out on the monsters that came back from last night's blood moon. He rages until his muscles shake and his urge to kill the Yiga members responsible is gone. No matter how often he checks his slate, it never once gives him a quest to put a stop to the Yiga.

(Link doesn't know what to do. He is a person. He is real. He wants to make his own decisions.)

The hero follows the instructions to Tabantha's nearest Divine Beast. He can't hear his heart and the rolling waves of emotions are silent. Hopefully this is for the best. The slate hasn't led him wrong so far.

(The dark emotions continue to rage behind his walls, boiling and waiting impatiently for the tipping point.)


A/N: In which Link might just be Hyrule's Bachelor. Thanks for reading!

Thank you, Satrinity, for your review! No regrets, sleep is important. I'm glad you like it so far! Only a few more chapters for this arc… hopefully the build-up succeeds. Favourite Zeldas are Hyrule Warriors Zelda and A Link Between Worlds Zelda, and Tetra but I don't exactly count her as a Zelda… Do you have a favourite? How about a favourite big-evil, final boss? Thank you so much for your review, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Guess who shows up next chapter?

Have an amazing day