Hnnnnng quarantine sucks. But! It also doesn't because now I've got more time to write haha! Hope y'all are staying sane with all of this stuff going on, and safe too!
The golden light slowly faded away as Link opened his eyes, finding himself back at the entrance of Goron City, with Zelda and Yunobo standing next to him. Yunobo gasped loudly when he opened his eyes, even jumping back a bit. "Woah! We're back in Goron City, goro!" He exclaimed, looking around wildly.
"Daruk brought us back," Zelda explained shortly, glancing over at Link who was staring at his feet.
He didn't say anything for a while, with the only sounds being Yunobo's little gasps and sounds of wonder, mixed in with the life of Goron City. But all of those sounds were lost to Link. He was too busy trying to sort out the many feelings and thoughts that were running wild in his head. Even though he still felt the heavy guilt for Daruk's death, the Champion's comforting words sounded loud and proud throughout it all, reassuring him that everything would be okay. It sounded like Daruk was satisfied and content, so shouldn't Link be too? Yes, Link finally decided, Zelda and I did all we could. I shouldn't feel guilty, but rather… A determined sense came over Link, and he looked up to meet Zelda's gaze. "We did it." He said with a small smile. ...but rather… I should feel proud.
Zelda returned the expression with a smile of her own and nodded. "We did it." She repeated with a reverent tone.
Just then the familiar, gurgling roar of Rudania thundered from Death Mountain, and the Divine Beast soon appeared over the rim of the volcano, settling itself on the edge. It pointed its head towards Hyrule Castle in the far distance, and it's head split open so that it looked more like a flower before a red beam shot out from it and connected with the castle. The trio stared at the beam in awe, Link and Zelda smiling triumphantly. Rudania was back on their side, with Daruk to pilot it. And it might have been a trick of his eyes, but Link swore he could see a tiny dot of a figure standing on top of Rudania. It didn't take long for him to realize it was Daruk himself. Link's smile grew.
"Wow! Rudania! Is it good now, goro?" Yunobo asked, staring up at the Divine Beast with an open mouth.
"Yes… it is. Daruk is piloting it again, thanks to us." Zelda answered with another nod, her smile tainted with mourning for the lost Champion.
Yunobo let out a squeal of excitement. "That's incredible, goro! And I got to see the great Daruk! He really was there! And you two were amazing!" The young Goron gasped, "We need to go tell this to the Boss, goro! He'll be so proud!"
With Link and Zelda nodding, Yunobo grinned and took the lead, walking quickly through Goron City. The Goron Boss was pacing outside of his home, as usual, mumbling incoherent words to himself as he did so. Yunobo called out to the Boss to catch his attention, rushing towards him and waiting for Link and Zelda to catch up.
"Hm?" The Boss hummed, turning towards the trio and letting out a grunt. "Hey! It's the little Hylian girl and Yunobo! You two just left a day ago, and you…" He turned to Link, "You've been gone for days! Where in Daruk's name have you been, eh?"
Link rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, although there was really no reason to be embarrassed. "I was in Rudania."
"For all that time?" The Boss exclaimed, "Then I'm guessin' you kept that beast at bay while Yunobo and Zelda 'ere got back to ya?"
Yunobo nodded, answering for Link. "Link stayed in there all by himself to help get Rudania back on our side, then I took Zelda there to help finish the job!"
"Is that so? Color me impressed." The Boss said in his gruff voice, keeping his gaze locked on Link for a while longer before regarding the full trio. "Well then you three conquered Rudania...But good grief… did ya have to do it just when my back pain went away? I was all ready and rollin' to go at Rudania myself!" The Boss said angrily, catching them all off guard.
"Now you've gone and made it look like I was just fibbin' about my back pain this whole time! Imagine that! ME! Gwa ha ha!" He suddenly laughed, making the trio helplessly confused even as the old Goron continued, "Oh! And I'm also happy to see Yunobo finally got his act together. I know that's you two Hylians doing, as well." He then thumped his fist onto the rocky ground, "But enough back-patting and other such nonsense. Take a look at this!" He gestured up to Rudania perched on Death Mountain.
"The Divine Beast Vah Rudania has calmed down and returned to its peaceful ways. Now we can get back to diggin' for ore around Death Mountain." The Boss returned his attention back to Link and Zelda, his eyes widening as if he just remembered something. "Oh, right! I've still gotta thank you two in some way! I'll have Yunobo prepare something to get you two back on the road." He paused, his eyes narrowing at the two Hylians. "Say… you two look familiar, now that I think about it… Ah! You're that Hylian Princess, and you're the Hylian Champion!" He exclaimed suddenly, letting out another hearty laugh.
Link and Zelda glanced at each other with surprised expressions, not sure how to take his reaction. So they both just stayed quiet and continued to listen to the Goron Boss. Link couldn't help but stay smiling, chuckling inwardly at the Boss' attitude. It seemed so Goron to want to help with cleansing Rudania, then to just laugh it off anyway. Link glanced over at Zelda again to see if she found this as humorous as he did, but she wasn't smiling. There was something in her eyes that he couldn't quite place, but when she caught him looking at her, she flashed an obviously fake smile. There was something going on, Link could tell, but he didn't have enough time to think about it before the Boss stopped laughing and spoke up again.
"Say… aren't ya supposed to be wieldin' a special sword? The sword that seals the darkness, eh?" The old Goron asked Link, rubbing his chin in thought.
Link felt his stomach clench at the mention of the Master Sword, and his current worries about Zelda were forgotten for the time being. "...Yes… Zelda and I were going to go fetch it after traveling to Akkala." He said hesitantly.
"Hmm...Well, glad to hear it, brother!" He exclaimed, nodding in satisfaction. "Now Yunobo, get somethin' together for these two and send 'em on their way."
Yunobo stood up straighter and saluted the Boss. "Right, goro! Link, Zelda, follow me!" He exclaimed, turning and marching off. The two Hylians nodded and turned, waving to Goron Boss before following close behind Yunobo. Link chuckled at the young Goron's energetic and exaggerated marching, noticing that Zelda wasn't doing the same, making Link's worry for her only grow. He made a mental note to talk to her about it once they were done here in Goron City.
They soon arrived at the same spare home where Link and Zelda had first changed into their flamebreaker armor before heading off to Rudania. As Yunobo went to a few crates and began looking through them, Link picked up his pile of clothes and Zelda's, which was considerably tidier, and handed them to her. She nodded in thanks.
"I've been waiting to give this to you two ever since I found out you were the Hylian Champion, and you the Princess, goro." Yunobo says, leaning into one of the crates and lifting something out of it. It looked like a slab of metal. "Here you go!" He turned around and handed the gift to Zelda. Link stared it down, and now that he had gotten a better look at it, he could see that it was incredibly thin slabs of metal held together by ringlets. Crudely scratched onto the top slate were the words "Daruk's Diary" with the 'Diary' roughly scratched out and replaced with "Training Journal".
Zelda let out a gasp once she read the words, and Link's eyes widened before his head snapped back up to Yunobo. "Yunobo… where did you get this?" He asked in surprise.
Yunobo had the largest grin on his face. "Someone found it while mining and brought it to the Boss, goro. The Boss gave it to me since I'm Daruk's descendant. I thought I would give it to you two as a thank you gift!"
Hugging the diary to her chest, Zelda smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Yunobo. This means a lot."
Link's initial surprise faded into excitement. Now he would always have a little piece of Daruk's legacy to treasure himself. He nodded along with what Zelda said. "It really does." He told the young Goron with a grin.
Yunobo nodded. "Of course, goro! It was the least I could do." He paused, noticing the clothes that both Link and Zelda were holding. "You two should get some bags to make carrying all of that stuff easier." He rushed back to the crates, rummaging around before lifting up a bag to go over the shoulder for Zelda, and then a bag to go on the back for Link. "Here!" He set the bags in Link and Zelda's arms, placing his giant hands on his hips in satisfaction.
Zelda and Link each slipped their clothes into their designated bags, with Zelda still holding the diary to her chest. "Again, thank you." She said with a thankful nod.
"Don't mention it, goro. Now, you two should be on your way." Yunobo said, taking a step forward and pushing Link and Zelda towards the entrance. The Boss had been right; Yunobo was way more confident now. Perhaps it was because he had personally met his ancestor, or perhaps it was because he helped in cleansing Rudania. Either way, Link had to admit that he liked the new Yunobo. Hopefully, the young Goron would stay that way, even after they left.
"It feels so good to be out of that armor!" Zelda exclaimed, stretching her arms out before relaxing and pulling her bag back onto her shoulder. "Those things were horrible."
Link chuckled, slipping a bright silver rupee into his own bag before situating it back onto his back as they walked along the path away from the Foothill Stable. "I'll say! Sleeping in it was a nightmare."
The two Hylians had just changed out of their flamebreaker armor at the stable, selling it to a merchant who was planning on trekking up to Death Mountain themselves the next day. They had made quite the profit, gaining 400 rupees for each armor set, or 8 silver rupees in total. They had both decided to split the rupees and each keep 4, just in case something happened to whoever would've been holding both. However, Zelda was keeping the extra 130 rupees they had gained from selling the luminous stones to Beedle, and buying another empty flask for Link, as Zelda already had one. After filling their flasks with freshwater, eating a quick lunch, and finishing off the dried meat strips that the Gorons had given Zelda, they had both gotten back onto the trail, setting their sights on Akkala.
Zelda sighed. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for you in Rudania, activating all of the terminals by yourself, fending off… that yiga member, and spending all of that time waiting… I'm sorry."
"Zelda, you've said sorry too many times to count." Link chuckled, giving her a bright smile. "Really, don't worry about it. You got hurt, so you had a good reason to take a while."
They both fell quiet for a moment after that, walking along the trail as dark clouds began to gather in the sky above them. Link glanced up, frowning a bit before reaching into his bag to take a quick drink from his flask. As he did so he caught Zelda watching him out of the corner of his eye. He lowered his flask and turned to face her, wondering if she intended to tell him something. Apparently, she did.
"When I got hurt…" She began, with Link nodding to have her continue, "I remembered Daruk."
A small smile broke out on Link's face. "That's great."
Zelda nodded, looking up and noticing the dark clouds. "I was recruiting him to pilot Rudania. Oh, and he saved a dog from a group of Bokoblins." She chuckled, "I loved the little dog, but Daruk was uh… hesitant to pet him." Her smile fell from her face and she looked away, although Link wasn't sure why she would be sad about the fact that Daruk didn't like dogs. He then remembered how she had been acting in Goron City, and how he had planned on talking to her about it. However, this didn't seem like the time to bring it up, so he pushed it aside for now and chuckled instead to try and lighten the mood.
"But I thought no monster stood a chance against the great Daruk!" He said with a rough edge to it, imitating the Goron's voice, watching Zelda closing, hoping this would lift her spirits. His smile grew when she laughed, and he nudged her playfully. "But seriously, I'm glad you remember. It feels good, doesn't it."
"To remember?"
"Mhm."
A look between that of reverence, wistfulness, and mourning came over her. "It is. It really is."
Soon after that, the two Hylians came to a crossroads, and with a glance at their map on the Sheikah Slate, Zelda directed them onto the path towards Akkala. The path was made up of a ruined road and gravel, which was slowly arching upwards in a slight ascent. It ran alongside vertical, gray cliffs that surrounded Zora's Domain.
As they traveled along, the clouds above them darkened dangerously, threatening to rain. Link nudged Zelda, looking up at the sky. "Think we should find shelter?" He asked.
Zelda frowned up at the clouds. "Probably." She nodded, and they continued along, now trying to spot anything that could work as shelter as the storm clouds continued to slowly gather above their heads.
The day continued, the air growing steadily cooler with the storm rolling in. "So where exactly is this memory that we're going to?" Link asked, glancing worriedly up at the clouds.
Zelda pulled out the Sheikah Slate in response, opening up the map and zooming in on where one of the stable hands from the Foothill Stable had directed them too once they had shown them the picture of the memory they were now trying to find.
Once she found the location she handed the Slate to Link, pointing it out to him. Link brought the Slate closer to his face, reading out the name of the place out loud. "The Spring of Power, huh?" He handed the Slate back to Zelda. "I've gotta admit, just the name sounds very familiar. I might just pass out into another memory thinking about it." He joked.
"Yeah… maybe." Zelda muttered, a faraway look in her eyes.
Link frowned a bit. "Hey… you okay?"
Seemingly snapping out of a daze, Zelda looked over at him. "Huh? Oh… yeah-no, I'm good."
"No, you're not." He began, not even noticing the couple of raindrops that began to fall around him.
Zelda, however, did notice. "We should find some shelter." She said hurriedly, quickening her pace so that she was farther ahead.
Watching her golden hair shift slightly as a crisp breeze began to blow around them, Link hurried to catch up with Zelda as the raindrops doubled around them. "Zelda, you said we would talk about these things. You know, if something was bothering us." Link said, trying to get eye contact. But Zelda simply increased her pace, holding a hand above her head to try and provide some shelter from the steadily increasing rainfall. Link fell back behind her again, and he pulled out his Guardian shield, activated it, and held it over his head like an umbrella. It worked surprisingly well.
"Zelda!" Link called after her again as the rain suddenly increased to a violent downpour, the wind now ferocious and wild. Narrowing his eyes from the storm's sudden intensity, Link ran towards Zelda, who had stopped and was trying to shield herself from the storm with both arms. Link internally groaned in frustration. Talking about what whatever was bothering Zelda would have to wait. Now, they needed to find shelter from this storm. And fast.
Shutting his mouth and grabbing Zelda's hand instead, Link passed the Guardian shield to her and began to lead her through the storm, gritting his teeth as the wind fought against him. His clothes were completely soaked through by now, and he felt his bag's weight increase from the rainwater it soaked up as well.
Both Hylians now running up the slope and trying to keep their footing on the slick, ruined road, Link continued to lead Zelda, spotting the silhouette of what looked like building ruins up ahead. Heart thumping in relief, Link pushed himself harder, still holding Zelda's hand tightly in his own. As they came closer to the ruins, Link set his eyes onto a corner of a stone building, with only two walls and a ceiling standing. Perfect. He glanced over his shoulder to Zelda, who was holding the shield up to guard her against the pelting rain. "There's shelter up ahead! We just have to-WOAH!" A sudden burst of ice exploded right in front of Link, making him skid to a halt and look around wildly. His heart sunk.
They were surrounded by monsters. There was a Moblin to his right and his left, both wielding rusted swords, with one Bokoblin standing on top of the corner building Link had set his eyes on before, with two more Bokoblins in front of him holding crude wooden clubs. The Bokoblin on top of the ruined corner let out a screech, stringing another arrow, except… it wasn't a normal arrow. Link's eyes widened and he tightened his grip on Zelda's hand before turning and trying to sprint the way they had come, but a sudden icy chill sprung up his spine.
He found that he couldn't move, and it felt like his foot was frozen to the bone. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing that his foot was indeed frozen; it was engulfed in ice that spread across the ground like a spider's web, holding him captive. He felt Zelda's hand leave his as she had now pulled out her Sheikah Slate, already having frozen the Bokoblin with the bow with her stasis rune, but it was already starting to blink.
"Those are ice arrows!" She exclaimed just as the Moblin closest to them approached. Link's stomach tightened and he tried to tug his foot out of the ice with both hands but to no avail. So he instead straightened, pulled out his bow, strung it, and let a fire arrow loose at the Moblin. It pegged the monster right in the snout, making it stumble back and cry out horribly. The other monsters became furious, screeching and roaring in dissonant harmony.
Adrenaline rushing, Link went to grab another fire arrow to melt the ice around his foot but found that there were no fire arrows left. In fact, there weren't any arrows left at all. Now near panicking, Link took out his Guardian sword, activated it and began stabbing at the ice, finally breaking free just as the Bokoblin with the bow broke out of the stasis, and the other two Bokoblins lunged at him. He stumbled backward, narrowly avoiding getting clubbed in the head. Glaring at the two monsters, Link then jumped forward with a counter-attack, stabbing one of the Bokoblins in the shoulder before turning and slicing his shining blade across the other Bokoblins chest. Both screeched out in pain and hesitated to attack, giving Link enough time to realize Zelda wasn't by him anymore.
However, he didn't have time to try and look for her through the downpour before the archer Bokoblin let lose another ice arrow, narrowly missing Link's head. That jump-started him back into action. The two Bokoblins were now back on the offensive, attacking Link in rapid turns. Link managed to defend himself fairly well, even without his shield, which was still with Zelda, but not good enough. As he thrust his sword at the Bokoblin to his right, the other jumped behind him and whacked him harshly on the side, the blow making him lose his footing and fall onto his side.
The other Bokoblin he had just thrust his sword at before then jumped at him, and he rolled out of the way just in time, but as he got onto his feet, a sharp pain erupted in his chest, making him cry out and fall back onto the ground. One of the Moblins had been waiting right in front of him for him to get onto his feet, slashing its sword across his chest as he did so. He hadn't seen it because of the rain that was now coming down in sheets.
Feeling blood trickling down his chest from the open wound, Link hastily crawled backward out of the way as the Moblin stabbed its sword into the ground, however, as its blade made contact with the stone ground, the blade broke in half, making the monster toss the useless weapon aside and stalk towards Link instead. The other two Bokoblins did the same, preparing to finish him off with their clubs.
Gritting his teeth, Link tried to get to his feet, but before he could an ice arrow landed right by his hand, with an eruption of ice to freeze it to the ground quickly following. Link gasped from the cold ice as it crawled up his arm, making it so that he couldn't budge. He tried to tug it free, but to no avail, and now one of the Bokoblins had leaped into the air to land a violent blow to his head that would surely knock him out.
But in the blink of an eye, Link had whipped out his Guardian sword, holding it above him just as the Bokoblin landed. The blade pierced through the monster's body, with it immediately going limp. Link grimaced from the smell of the monster's lifeless body before moving it to the side of him. The other Bokoblin and the Moblin hesitated having seen one of their comrades fall, growling menacingly instead. Just then a screech from the archer Bokoblin made Link glance over, expecting to see an ice arrow flying towards him. Instead, the monster fell forward off of the corner of the building, landing in a mangled position that told Link the Bokoblin was dead. Zelda was now standing on top of the building, holding a soldier's spear in her hands and panting. The Moblin Link hit with a fire arrow earlier was nowhere to be seen. Zelda must have finished it off as well while Link was occupied with the other monsters.
Relief flooded through Link before vanishing when the Moblin in front of him turned and charged towards Zelda while the Bokoblin took its opportunity to swing its club at Link's head. Link saw this and ducked just in time, his arm twisting painfully as he did so as it was still frozen in ice. He then retaliated at the Bokoblin with a stab of his Guardian sword, managing to stab it in its stomach. The monster shrieked and backed off again, just as he heard Zelda cry out in pain.
His head immediately snapped up and he violently tried to pull his arm out of the ice again, but only managed to pull on it painfully. Zelda was on the ground, presumably having fallen off because of the Moblin. The Moblin was now winding back its leg to kick at the disorientated Zelda, buck Link hastily drew back his arm holding the Guardian sword and threw it, pegging the monster in the back. The monster cried out in pain, trying to reach the sword with its arms while stumbling around blindly. Zelda recovered from falling and leaped to her feet, picked up her spear, and stabbed the Moblin in its chest. The monster let out one last roar of defiance and pain before collapsing, defeated.
Link sighed in relief, mostly from seeing Zelda safe. Zelda looked over at Link, smiling brightly in victory before gasping. "Watch out!" She cried. Link frowned in confusion just when an overwhelming pain exploded in the back of his head, immediately rendering him unconscious.
Cold. He was really, really cold. Wait- no… hot. He was really, really hot. Now cold… hot… cold… Link gasped and opened his eyes, frowning when he saw nothing. Then a bright red flame erupted to his right, making him gasp despite himself. The heat washed over him immediately, and he began to sweat from the intensity of it. Then a blue flame burst to life to his left, and he was suddenly unbearably cold. He began to shiver before the heat increased to his right, making half of him dangerously hot while the blue flame fought back, making his other half freezing cold. The two sides continued to increase, overstimulating Link's nerves and making him cry out in pain.
He fell onto the ground, closing his eyes and curling in on himself to stop the pain when it suddenly ceased to be. He opened his eyes again, widening them when he saw to his right the behemoth of Rudania, then to his left Ruta. Both Divine Beasts towered above him, glowing in their vibrant pink that they had before he and Zelda had cleansed them. Link hesitantly got back onto his feet, eying the two Beasts cautiously.
"Link." Someone called his name from behind, making him whirl around. His heart lurched in his chest when he saw Mipha, standing a ways away and more to his left. Her face was strangely calm, with the little green flames floating and dancing around her feet. "Why did you leave?" She asked, her soft voice echoing around him.
"Leave?" Link repeated, his own voice sounding strange. "What do you mean?" It then hit him as to why his voice sounded so wrong. It wasn't echoing.
"You left me," Mipha said, the hurt in her voice clear. Then a bright light flashed to Link's right, Daruk appearing once it faded. Little flames identical to Mipha's danced around him as well.
"Daruk-" Link began, blinking in surprise when the Goron Champion cut him off.
"Don't speak to me," Daruk growled, his voice filled with venom. Link took a step back in surprise, still feeling the power of the Divine Beasts radiating behind him.
"But I-" Link tried again, but Mipha cut him off this time.
"You left me." She repeated, her voice sounding identical to when she had said it before.
Daruk continued to glare directly at Link as Mipha continued to repeat that single line. "I can't believe I ever called you my brother-"
"You left me-"
"You're spineless, eh? Always stumbling around like Cucco without a head-"
"You left me-"
"How have you managed to survive this long?"
"You left me-"
"Link!"
Link blinked. That was a different voice. Where was it coming from? But Daruk and Mipha simply continued as if nothing had happened.
"You left me-"
"No wonder you don't have the Master Sword yet. I'm even surprised you've gotten this far."
"You left me-"
"Link!"
There it was again! The voice. It was so familiar. But why?
"Some brother you are, pest."
"You left me. You left me. You left me. You left-"
"STOP!" Link suddenly yelled, shutting his eyes from the strain of the shout. Silence.
Gasping and opening his eyes, Link found that he was lying on his back, breathing hard. When his vision focused and he saw Zelda leaning over him, he sighed and closed his eyes again. Another nightmare.
"Are you okay?" Zelda asked, still leaning over him.
Link opened his eyes again and tried to sit up, but he suddenly felt extremely lightheaded and his vision swam before him. He groaned and lied back down, just now noticing the slight sting from his cut on his chest that was now covered in a bandage and his hand that was freezing cold by his side. Why was it cold? He turned his head slightly, seeing that they were underneath that corner of the ruined building. The rain was still going steadily, but it seemed to be letting up. He saw a chunk of ice a few yards away, and that was when everything came rushing back to him.
"It was the Bokoblin, wasn't it." He said softly, finding it too difficult to speak up. He found that he was extremely uncomfortable lying on his back so he sat up again, and with Zelda's help, situated himself so that he was leaning against the wall but still sitting. Zelda nodded and pulled out Link's flask of water from his bag and handed it to him.
"Yeah, he snuck up behind you." She said, "So I finished it off and dragged you under here. You've been out for almost two hours. It wasn't until you started moving in your sleep that I tried to wake you up." She paused, leaning against the other wall, but the space under the ceiling wasn't that big, so they were still close together. She pulled out her own flask of water, taking a quick drink before asking, "I'm guessing it was another nightmare?"
Frowning, Link reluctantly nodded. "It was just a short one."
"I wish there was something I could do to help. To make them stop." Zelda said with a tinge of guilt in her tone.
Link shook his head. "No… There isn't anything you can do. Besides, you said you're having them too."
She looked down at the flask in her hand. "Yeah." She said quietly.
Link's face softened. "You also seem to have something on your mind. I tried talking to you about it before, but then the storm came, and… all of that."
Zelda's hands tightened on her flask, and she looked away at the ground. "It's nothing."
"No, it's obviously something. Please tell me. You said that we would tell each other these things, right? Maybe I can help."
"I know you can help, but it's something I know you've been struggling with too, and I don't want to put that on you." Zelda said, finally looking back up at Link.
"Well if it is something I'm struggling with, then that's a perfect reason for me to help!"
Zelda let out a sigh. "It's just… it's… it's about what you said in Rudania. You know… what you said to Daruk."
Link took a moment to think back, his eyes widening in surprise when he remembered what he had said to the Goron Champion. How he had felt so guilty about Daruk's death, and how he felt that everything was his fault. "You feel guilty too?" He asked after a moment, and Zelda's knuckles turned white with how tight she was clutching her flask.
"Of course I feel guilty!" She exclaimed, looking away and lowering her tone. "I know I struggled with my sealing power 100 years ago, and I think that is why we couldn't face off against Calamity Ganon. I don't know for sure, but especially after hearing about the Spring of Power and the Spring of Wisdom back at East Gate, and that it was those springs where I prayed to unlock my power, I only feel more and more guilty every day. But… it's weird because I don't fully understand why. Maybe I struggled with unlocking my power back then, but look at me now! I've used it twice! I'm sure I was able to use it back then too, just not as efficient."
Link stayed quiet as Zelda spoke, listening intently. When she fell silent, he set his flask down and placed a comforting hand on her leg as he looked into her eyes. "Well, no matter what happened back then, I want you to know that you're the strongest person I know." He said, giving her a small smile as he continued, "And even if it was all your fault, which I'm sure it wasn't, at least we can both reassure each other that what we're doing now is making up for it. It's like what Daruk told us. Now that we're freeing the Champions, we can finally beat Calamity Ganon, and we'll win."
A small smile broke out across Zelda's face. "You're right." She said quietly, slipping her flask back into her bag and looking out at the rain. The storm had finally calmed just a bit, with it only being a light rainfall now. The sun had also reached the horizon, casting long shadows throughout the ruins and tainting the ground in elegant colors. Looking back down, Zelda let out a little sigh. "But how can you be so sure?"
Link chuckled quietly and scratched the back of his head. "I'm not. I'm just trying to mimic Daruk's optimistic attitude."
That made Zelda laugh a bit, and she situated herself into a more relaxed position. "You're doing a pretty good job."
"Really?"
"Well… past the whole 'blaming yourself for everything,' then yeah. Really."
Chuckling again, Link stretched out his arms and let out a yawn. "That's good."
There was silence for a moment. Link was looking out at the rain, still holding his flask of water, while Zelda had taken out the Sheikah Slate and was looking through the pictures. After a few more minutes Link let out another yawn, and Zelda slipped the Slate back into her bag.
"We should get some rest." She said.
Link rubbed an eye with his fist. "What gives you that idea?" He said with a joking smile.
Zelda rolled her eyes. "Gee, I wonder."
And with that, the two Hylians situated themselves so that they both fit comfortably underneath the portion of the roof that kept them dry from the rain, using their bags as pillows. They were facing each other, Link closest to the outside, with a good few feet between them, and Zelda smiled just a bit.
"Goodnight." She said quietly, curling up slightly and getting comfortable before closing her eyes.
Link watched her for a moment, feeling genuinely happy. He hadn't felt that for a while. Sure he smiled and joked here and then, but there was always something weighing on his mind. Something heavy. But now he felt completely at peace. Of course there was still the nagging reminder of the Champions, their deaths and sufferings… but for now, Link was positive he was going to have a good night's rest. For once.
The next morning came slowly and calmly without any interruptions. Groaning in protest to his body waking, Link took a deep breath through his nose and opened his eyes, slowly letting out the breath through his mouth. He was lying on his back, staring up at the stone ceiling above him from the ruins. The morning air was crisp and fresh, most likely due to the storm from the evening before.
Yawning, Link turned over onto his side to face Zelda, a small smile on his face. "Good mor-" He cut himself off, staring at the empty space beside him. Panic immediately surged through him, making him sit up quickly and scramble out from underneath the ruins. "Zelda? Zelda!" He called out, his heart thumping wildly.
"Um… Good morning?" He heard someone say hesitantly off to his right. He spun around, finding Zelda kneeling behind a cooking pot. It was set over a flickering fire, with water inside and… monster parts?
Relief flooded through Link, and his panic faded into confusion. He stepped towards the cooking pot and crouched down in front of it, his nose wrinkling from the smell that wafted from the concoction currently boiling inside. He stood back up to get away from it, instead turning his attention to Zelda. "Sorry… I panicked when I didn't see you back there." He said, nodding his head towards the section of ruins they had slept under.
Zelda's puzzled expression from Link's earlier outburst vanished and she gave him an embarrassed smile. "Oh, sorry. I woke up before you had, so I just thought I'd try making an elixir. I used one of your fire arrows to start the fire under the pot. Sorry."
The fact that Zelda had used a fire arrow didn't faze Link. What did was the fact that the boiling heap of monster parts in front of him was supposed to be an elixir. "That is an elixir?" He asked, staring at the concoction as Zelda used a stick to stir it a bit.
"Well, not yet. It still needs to cook for a while, of course. The monster parts still need to properly melt away." She explained quickly, obviously not disturbed by how absolutely disgusting it looked.
"Uh… is that what the Gorons used to help you?" Link asked hesitantly, afraid of what the answer might be.
Zelda laughed. "Goddesses no! That calls for far less harsh ingredients. This is going to increase your energy. Well… it's supposed to, anyway."
Still completely baffled, Link finally decided that he would never understand and went about looking around the rest of the ruins. His gaze stopped when he saw what was in the distance. His eyes widened at the sight of it. "Woah." He breathed, catching Zelda's attention. She followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at.
"Oh that? Those are the Akkala Citadel Ruins." She said, standing up and facing the sight herself. "Impressive, aren't they."
Link was at a loss of words. He stared up at the giant structure that stood isolated on a plateau, scattered, incoherent memories flashing in his mind. He knew that place. He had been there, but it wasn't clear… Nevertheless, it was magnificent, with towering stone walls and vibrant, orange trees dotting the rather gray landscape. However, the longer he stared at it, and the more memories that came to him, the more he realized just how destroyed the place was. Just like everything else. He thought to himself bitterly.
"That's where the Hyrule soldiers took their last stand against Calamity Ganon. Or at least, the Guardians he controlled." Zelda remarked quietly, with Link glancing at her for just a moment before regarding the Citadel in a new light.
He frowned, imagining what it must have been like to be one of those Hyrulean soldiers back on that fateful day… If he concentrated just hard enough, he could get just a taste. He could almost hear the echoes of the great battle that had been fought there. He could hear the shouts and barks of men as they pushed back the corrupted machines. He could hear the deafening explosion that sounded whenever a canon was fired. He could hear the strangely familiar hisses of energy as the Guardians released their deadly lasers, obliterating everything and everyone in their path.
Not wanting to dwell on such a horrible scene any longer, Link sighed and forced himself to look away. The echoes were lost to him, and he went back to where he and Zelda's bags were stored. He picked up his Guardian weapons, regarding his bow with a frown. It was incredibly crude and heavy, as it had been made by monsters, and he wished he could find something more lightweight.
Setting his stuff back down, Link wandered back out into the ruins. Zelda had kneeled down in front of her 'elixir' again, obviously content on getting it ready before they continued on their way. Link searched around the ruins, seeing the monsters from the evening before piled up in the far corner, some of their horns and tongues cut off very crudely. Apparently, Zelda hadn't just found the monster parts for her elixir.
Continuing his search, Link finally found what he was looking for. The bow that the Bokoblin had used before was lying unscathed from where it had been dropped. Link scooped it up, recognizing it as a traveler's bow. Perfect. It was extremely lightweight and fit easily onto his back. He also found six ice arrows that hadn't snapped or been used already from the Bokoblin. Those would come in handy.
Link then returned back to his stuff, strapping on his weapons, his new bow, quill of arrows, and finally his bag. He picked up Zelda's gear as well, taking it over to the cooking pot. He plopped it down beside her, surprised to see that the fire had been put out underneath the pot with dirt and the concoction was now a thick liquid. It was a strange blue-brown color, and Zelda was stirring it with a glare.
"I got your stuff. We should get going." Link said.
Zelda continued to angrily stir the elixir. "It came out all wrong." She grumbled, ignoring her gear and what Link had said. "It's supposed to be blue, not… brown."
"Then you're not going to drink it… right?"
Zelda sighed, defeated. She dropped the stick she had been stirring with onto the ground. "No. I'll have to dump it out and try again later."
"Ah. Sorry it didn't work out." Link tried for a smile, but Zelda only angrily picked up her gear and slipped her bag onto her shoulder.
She stared down at her failed elixir for a while before her face relaxed and she bent down to pick up two apples. "I at least found these. There's more growing over there." She said, handing an apple to Link with an apologetic smile. "Sorry I had to go and dirty up the pot. We probably could've used it to make a nice breakfast."
Link shrugged, rubbing the apple on his tunic and noticing the small tear on his chest from the Moblin. He made a mental note to get that sewed up as soon as possible. "Don't worry about it. Apples are great, even if we have had a lot of them."
Nodding, Zelda bent down and hesitantly touched the cooking pot to see if it was still hot. It was, and she sighed again. "We'll have to wait longer for the pot to cool off so I can dump it out."
"I say we don't worry about it."
"Really?"
Link shrugged again. "Sure. I mean, it was being used by monsters before. I don't think anyone else will find it very sanitary."
"You're probably right."
Zelda smiled a bit, straightened, and resituated her bag onto her shoulder, apple in hand. "Well then let's get going." She said brightly, taking the initiative and walking out of the ruins. Link followed after her, glancing over at the pile of dead monsters before looking back over at the Akkala Citadel. His broken memories stirred as he gazed at it, giving him a slight headache. Curse my stupid memory. Curse it all. He thought angrily to himself and forced himself to look away. He hurried forward so that he was walking side by side with Zelda, feeling the weight of his bag bobbing on his shoulders. Why was it so heavy? Daruk's Diary… Link remembered with a start, suddenly feeling guilty for having not read it yet. I'll have to do that later. He thought, nodding in satisfaction. He would read it later. For Daruk. But for now, he would only focus on getting to their next destination.
