The River is warm, rushing past his feet with its usual swift pace as he strides through it, uncaring of the ripples in his wake.
She is waiting for him, the sound of Her loom clacking in soft concert with the current, Her hands sending the shuttle flying through the weft and warp with the ease of long practice.
He remembers seeing others do this, long ago in his mortal life.
Ah, you're back. She says, pleased.
Of course, He replies. Have you ever known me not to come back to you? You must admit that Termina was…interesting.
I do not doubt you, my Champion, She replies, setting aside Her weaving. Come, sit beside me and tell me of your adventures.
Surely you have seen them already, He says, sitting beside Her. The River shows all of Time.
But it is not the same, She protests, leaning in for a languorous kiss. Besides, you tell it so poetically that perhaps you should have been a god of bards. Her laugh is mischievous and delighted.
It reminds him of a young girl with hair the color of sunlight and a brilliant warm smile. Zelda has long since passed to the Lands Beyond, though her descendants still rule the land she founded so many centuries ago.
Mayhap you should have been a goddess of jests, He says, teasing, accepting another kiss from Her.
Ah, but then who would write the tale of the worlds? She asks.
He shrugs. Someone else.
Come, come, She says, grasping one of his hands in Her own. Tell me of your latest adventure.
He smiles, rolling his shoulders and removing the great broadsword that sits across his back, setting the blade on the grass. He'd forged it with Her aid nearly twelve centuries previous from a metal found in the heart of a dying world.
The crossed blades shimmer with Holy light and he touches the hilt with an idle reverence. The symbol of the Old Gods rests at the pommel and Hylia's own device is etched upon the guard. A reminder of Her no matter where He is called to, no matter the Space and Worlds between Them.
Termina is a very strange land, He begins, where the first world the Old Gods forged is reversed, mirrored even. And above it all, a rather peculiar moon…
A/N: Thank you all for coming along with me on this four-ish year long journey! Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement; I couldn't have gotten this far without them.